Live and Love
by PeaceGuardian
Summary: Bruce Wayne/Batman is a vigilante, father, and billionaire playboy. In a life where Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, and Jaime Van are siblings and ultimate enemies. Bruce Wayne has to teach them how to live, learn, and love.Poor Bruce.
1. The Surprise

So first chapter of my first Batman fic, I had it written out a while ago, so...gimme some feedback! lol. Hope you enjoy it! It's kinda long, but hopefully, worth the read. PLEASE R&R, there'd be no point in posting if I there's no one reading it.

In the first few chapters, they will get a couple of suprises. DUN DUN DUUUUUN!!

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It was still in question on why Bruce decided to take his sons out on the stormy night. It was a bad idea to go to the movies with his three sons, a terrible idea in fact. He had a sixteen year old that tried to act older than he really was, a hyperactive fifteen year old, and a ten year old that had too much candy for his own good. Dick sat in the passenger seat as his two brothers sat in the back. The rain was coming down pretty hard, forcing Bruce to drive slower than he would've liked. They were halfway home when Tim shrieked, "STOP!"

Bruce, surprised by the sudden outburst, slammed on his brakes. It was a big mistake, definitely since the road was slippery. The car began to hydroplane and spin. Bruce gritted his teeth as he tried to regain control of his car. The car slid to a stop inches from hitting a building. A relieved breath escaped from him as he asked, turning towards his three sons, "Everyone all right?"

As soon as he received the nods of affirmation he began to scold Tim, "Don't ever tell me to stop like that again! We could've all gotten killed!"

"Sorry, Dad," Tim muttered, "but, I saw something in the alley."

"It was probably a cat." Jason said. "Quit being an idiot, Timmy."

"No! It was a person! I swear!" Tim exclaimed, his eyes wide and innocent. "Look! Over there!" He pointed into the alley that they were close to. "There's a kid there!"

"It's probably not even a kid, some hobo Tim, quit being a moron." Jason replied.

"Dad! He called me a moron!" Tim screamed.

"Stay here," Bruce ordered as he got out of the car, "don't you three move."

"But...what if they have a weapon!?" Dick asked.

"You let me worry about that chum, get into the driver's seat, just in case." Bruce said as he began climbing out.

"Dad! Let's just leave." Jason tried to sound calm, though he was terrified. "Forget what Timmy saw, he probably needs glasses."

"There is a person there Jays, I'm just going to see if they're OK, all right?"

"No, not all right, why do you have to be all noble and shit, just get back in the damn car." Jason growled.

"Jays..." Bruce shot his son a warning glance. "I'll be back."

The three boys watched their father disappear in the darkness. A minute passed and Tim suggested, "Let's go look for him."

"You heard him, he said stay in the car." Dick said, trying to be responsible. He reached over and locked the doors.

Bruce cautiously entered the alley, feeling darkness engulf him as the rain pelted his skin. Perhaps he should turn back, if something was here and hurt him then his boys would lose a parent...again. He prepared to turn around until sobs caught his ears. Bruce once again continued his trek into the alley. A small hunched figure sat in the corner sobbing. Bruce walked over and asked, "Are you OK?"

"Get away from me!" The girl screamed, her face tear streaked.

Bruce was taken aback by how innocent and vulnerable she looked. "I'm not going to hurt you, I swear." Bruce said softly, inching his way toward her. "What happened?"

The girl pointed, on the opposite corner lied two bodies of a couple. His eyes widened as he was hit with memories from his parents deaths. He immediately pulled himself out of the memories as she began sobbing again. "I'm so sorry." Bruce murmured, pulling out his cellphone and dialing the police station. "Come with me kiddo, it's not safe here." Bruce took her hand and led her out to his car.

"Dad! You're OK!" Tim threw the door open and ran towards his father.

"Yes, I'm fine, Timmy." Bruce said, his voice monotone, but couldn't help but smile at his youngest son.

"Ooh, who's she?" Tim asked.

"Why don't you ask her?"

"My name's Jaime." The girl said timidly.

The cops began to arrive. "I'm going to hand her over to them." Bruce told his sons.

With a comforting hand rested on her shoulder, Bruce guided her to the commisioner. "I found her, her parents were murdered in the ally." Bruce explained. "I'll talk to you later Gordon."

Bruce went back to his car and climbed in. "What's going to happen to her?" Dick asked.

"She'll be put into a family."

"Oh, but...

Bruce cocked a brow at his eldest son. Realizing what the boy meant, he immediately shook his head, "Nuh uh, no way am I taking in another kid. Three's enough trouble."

"But Dad! She lost her parents and all that!"

"Tons of kids lose their parents, I can't take them all in! And yes, Dick, there are plenty of children that lose their parents violently."

"BUt you have a chance to help her! We could all relate too! I mean, she's also around the same age as Tim, it'd be nice for him to have someone his age to play with." Dick insisted.

Jason started cackling like mad, "Dickie, don't make Dad go nuts, I mean if he gets another kid he'd probably snap."

"Boys, I really don't feel like discussing this. I'm wet and cold."

"Exactly! You found her for a reason." Dick pointed out. "Don't you understand? She needs a family that'll be able to help her through these hard times, I mean she might go for revenge and all that stuff. Plus it'd be good for our business, you know what I mean?" Dick wiggled his brows at his father.

"No, I don't know what you mean." Bruce answered, wiggling his brows back, although he knew exactly what his son was implying.

Dick gave an exasperated groan. "Dad! Just think about it! You'd be helping her like you helped us! And sides' we need a sister, don't we guys?"

"No way! I'm OK with the no girls in the house thing." Jason immediately interjected. "I don't need a little sissy to hold me back."

"How do you know she's a sissy? Sides' wouldn't that be good for you Jays? Takes you off the sissy record." Dick teased.

Frowning, Jason took a chance to slug his brother on the arm. "Ow!"

"Boys! Stop! I don't want another kid, got it? I just don't have the time for another. You three are enough."

"But Dad!" The three of them whined.

"No!"

"Dad, she needs us!" Tim insisted. "Come on! She lost her parents in an ally! She's street, troubled, like Jays!"

"Hey!" Jason growled and then perked up. "Yah, I could use another street kid in the house."

"Uh..I don't." Bruce retorted.

"She's a girl, she'll loosen us up. You know, we'll tone our violent tendencies down." Jason pointed out.

"She's a kid, a kid that I can't take care of!" Bruce objected.

"JUST THINK ABOUT IT!" THe three of them screamed at their father, slightly enjoying the thought of having a younger sister.

"Sides' the more the merrier." Dick grinned.

"You're retarted." Jason laughed.

"Jason, that's not nice." Bruce warned as he pulled into the driveway. "Now, let's not mention this to Alfred."

"Ooh, that's a great idea Dad!" Dick exclaimed. "Let's tell Alfred guys!"

The three of them popped out of the car and ran towards the manor before their father could stop them with bribes. "Alfred!" The three of them burst through the door.

"You'll never guess what happened!"

"We ran into a kid!"

"Bruce found someone and doesn't want another kid!"

"Whoa, whoa there. Please, young masters, you are sopping wet. First, take a warm shower and then you may tell me what's on your mind." Alfred reprimanded.

"Aw...come on Al!" Tim whined.

"Master Tim, go now, wait, let me take your jackets first. Shoes off please. This house is not a pigsty." Alfred said.

"A girl was found and her parents murdered in an alley." Dick burst. "Bruce found her and now he doesn't want to take her in. They'll probably send her to some foster home like they almost did with me and then she might want revenge. Plus, she'd be good for our team, you know?"

"I will surely talk to Master Bruce later, now, hurry up and get washed." Alfred shooed the boys up the stairs.

"Nice, Dick." Jason laughed. "Bruce'll get it now."

"I hope so." Dick grinned.

The three boys hurried to take their showers and lodged themselves on the top of the staircase where no one down there could see them. Bruce groaned and opened the door. "Alfred, don't listen to the boys." Was the first thing he said.

"Oh, not you too, soaking wet. We will discuss this later, no doubt, now go get cleaned."

The trio couldn't take it any longer, they popped up and exclaimed, "Let's discuss this now!"

"I might get pneumonia though." Bruce moaned and swooned theatrically. "I feel a cold coming."

"Save the sob story for someone who'd fall for it, Dad." Dick rolled his eyes. "You could survive a million broken bones and bullet wounds, I think you'll survive a cold."

Knowing that he was now cornered, Bruce leaned against the wall and made himself comfortable. "OK, talk to me."

"We need a sister!" The three boys exclaimed. "And she needs us!"

"And she's street and her name starts with a J." TIm said. "Like Jason's, and she's my age, and..."

"OK, TImmy, I get it." Bruce muttered. "I'll think about it and then I'll talk about her with the commisioner tomorrow, OK?"

"Yes!" The three boys gave each other high fives.

"But if I take her in, there better be no whining about having a girl and stuff. I better not hear it."

"Like we're that harsh, besides, she'd be a part of the family, that means that we're allowed to yell at each other and get into arguments." Dick pointed out.

"Oh, now four times the headaches, joy. BUt boys, before we tell her the secret we have to wait a few weeks. You know that means you three aren't going patrolling with me for those weeks. Sure you'll train like regular boys, video games, running on the treadmill in our gym, not the batcave. And then weightlifting, maybe wrestling with each other for fun now and then, but no batcave."

"We'll live Dad." Dick muttered.

"Go to bed...now." Bruce ordered, leaving no room for any arguments.

Bruce woke up early in the morning and began preparing to leave for the commisioner's office. His sons were still sleeping, until the afternoon, no doubt. He had told Alfred not to wake them up, he was going to surprise them with their new sister. In truth, Bruce had wanted the girl the moment he set his eyes on her. She was so innocent, so vulnerabe, so alone, that he had wanted to help her, but didn't think the boys would want a sister. It surprised him by how much they wanted to help her that he couldn't help but feel some pride in his sons for being such good people.

Now, Bruce climbed into his car and started driving out. He had already given the commissioner details about his visit and told the man to look into the girl's background. "Bruce, are you sure you want to adopt another child? You're what...twenty nine? Are you ready for a little girl?"

"I have three sons, a daughter won't hurt. I just want to help her. We're the best family to help her heal and you know it."

"Yes, I know it. You've done a fine job with your boys. That I must acknowledge, but four children for a twenty-nine year old bachelor/playboy?" Gordon raised his eyebrows.

Bruce sighed, "I know what I'm getting myself into and I thank you for worrying about me and such, but...I'm just doing what I feel is right, and this is right."

"Very well, Bruce. I actually have no idea how you do it. Single handedly raise three boys, not just any boys, but troubled boys. And then you keep up a WayneCorps and go out on dates, but still have time for your family."

"Alfred helps out now and then, it helps having a grandfatherly figure in the house." Bruce shrugged. "If you'd please..."

"Bruce, she has no family, her parents were druggies and abusive, just like Jason's. Are you ready for another kid like Jason? I know you had a lot of trouble with him, sometimes still do."

"She's not on the drugs, is she?" Bruce confirmed.

"No, she isn't. But her life isn't that great, she has bruises and scars, she'll need a lot of love. She's screwed up." Gordon said sadly.

"Kids are always able to bounce back up as long as they're given the chance to heal. Sure she'll have a dark side, but we'll help her get through it all."

"If you're sure..."

"Can I see her?" Bruce asked.

"Yah..." Gordon nodded.

Jaime walked in uncertainly, one hand clinging onto a ragged bunny and one slender hand in the officer's. Bruce smiled at her and waved. "Hi," He greeted softly, "do you remember me?"

The girl nodded in affirmation. "You found me, right?"

"Mm hmm," Bruce replied, "how are you?"

"I'm OK." Her small shoulders lifted and fell sadly.

Bruce turned toward Gordon and nodded his head. He wanted to help her and raise her as his daughter. Gordon began leafing through adoption papers for the young bachelor, shaking his head with wonder. THe man was intimidating, yet gentle with the child. It was hard to say no to him. Gordon had no doubt that the girl would be in good hands, it was just the fact that Bruce Wayne was still so young and yet he had three sons and now a daughter. "How old are you Jaime?" Bruce asked.

The girl counted her fingers and held up seven. "So you're in second grade?" Bruce asked, receiving another nod.

"Jaime, how do you feel about me becoming your father?" Bruce asked. "Would you like that?"

"You're not going to hurt me?" Jaime asked.

Bruce could feel his heart drop and twist as hatred for her former parents began rising in his throat. "No, of course not, I'll take care of you and...you'll have brothers to play with. And new toys." Bruce said softly.

"Bruce, here, sign here, here, and here." Gordon pointed.

Bruce picked up the pen and gave his signature. "Thanks, Gordon."

"She's all yours, take good care of her, remember, child services always comes and checks on children every few months until a full year. Or you should know, you did adopt three boys. Anyway, have fun."

Bruce stood up and held out his hand. He could feel her small fingers grip his big hand tightly filled with trust. Once out of the office, he swung her up into his arms and held her. "Let's go home, eh, kid?"

"OK." Jaime grinned, liking her new father already.

"Your brothers will be surprised, they're still sleeping." Bruce told her as he pulled into the driveway.

"THis is your house!?"

"It's yours now too." Bruce smiled at the incredulous look that dawned on her face. "Come on, let's get inside...oh...and welcome home!"

The two of them walked inside the mansion. "It's humungo."

"You'll get used to it, your brothers will show you around." Bruce explained. "BOYS! GET DOWN HERE! I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU!" He screamed.

Dick, Jason, and Tim stumbled down the stairs sleepily with their eyes half opened. "I'd think that you'd be more surprised." Bruce said.

Jason was the first to come to. "Holy, shit, Dad! I can't believe you were serious! THat's awesome!" Jason laughed.

Dick and Tim immediately snapped awake and stared at their new sister. "Boys, this is Jaime, she's seven and she's your sister now." Bruce introduced. "Jaime, these three boys are your brothers. Dick,he's sixteen, Jason, he's fifteen, and Tim, he's ten."

She waved shyly. Dick bent down and swooped her up enthusiastically. "We'll have so much fun Jaime!"

Tim nodded, bouncing up and down. "Let's show her around! Oh, let's introduce her to Alfred!"

Alfred came down the stairs with a duster in one hand. "Why, good morning Missus Jaime." Alfred greeted.

Jaime giggled, enjoying her new family.

Although it was hard on Bruce the first few months of having a new child, he began to get used to it. The first few months, Bruce had to sit with her until she fell asleep and stay with her until she woke up. She had a tendency to freak out after a nightmare, which was quite often since it was so soon after the death of her parents.

Bruce was always there, every second she needed him and that made them both quite attached to one another. His strong gentle hands were always there to coax her after a nightmare, pick her up after she fell, and rock her to sleep.


	2. Second Surprise

Hey guys, chapter one!! Bruce discovers something, dun dun dun!! How will this affect the happy bat family? Anyway, tell me what you all think, gimme some reviews! I mean, I want to know that there's someone actually reading it and I'm not writing this for nobody. lol. ENJOY!

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It was a weekend as the four children romped around in the living room. "Street kids versus gypsy boy and his boy wonder!" Jason screamed. "Attack!"

Jason threw fake punches at his brother and they fell to the ground wrestling as Jaime dragged Tim by the leg to their imaginary base. "Jays! Help! We almost got our next street kid!" Jaime shouted laughing.

Jason shoved Dick off of him and grabbed Tim. "No, not gypsy boy wonder!" Dick launched himself at Jaime and locked her in a hold as he dragged her off.

"Trade! Trade!" Jaime screamed.

Dick pondered on the suggestion and shoved Jaime at Jason as Tim was shoved towards him. "Fusion time!" Jaime announced as she and Jason did a strange dance. They hopped up and down like gorillas and then did the wave. Once their hands touched, Jaime leapt on her brother's back and they began attacking Dick and Tim. The four of them eventually fell to the ground in a laughing heap.

"What is this? Making a mess in the living room? That shall not do! You four, go outside and play immediately, while I clean up this mess." Alfred exclaimed.

The four children trailed outside and began racing up a dirt trail with their skateboards. Jason led the way with Dick closely behind him. The two younger siblings raced to catch up with their more experienced older ones. Jason weaved expertly through the dirt trail. "SHIT!" He leapt off his skateboard as he saw himself heading for a cliff. He crashed in a heap on the ground, his helmet flying off his head.

Dick immediately turned sharply towards another side to stop himself from running over Jason. Tim and Jaime collided into Dick, tumbling over the edge. Dick caught Tim's hand as Tim caught Jaime's. The three of them dangled on the edge of the cliff face. "Dick, what do we do?" Jaime asked, panic inching its way through her body.

"Stay calm, remember what Dad said? In a tough situation, we have to remain calm." Dick said, trying his best to soothe his younger siblings, knowing full well that he was the one thing that kept the three of them alive.

Rock was digging into his palms as he held on for dear life. "Jays! Jason! HELP! Jays!" Dick screamed. "Jason!"

Tim and Jaime joined in on the chorus. The three of them screamed, "JASON! Get up! Help us!"

"Is he dead?" Jaime asked.

"He's probably passed out, he hit the ground pretty hard. He had a helmet though, I don't understand." Dick said. "Jason!"

"What's going on here?" A young woman's voice called.

"Mom, over there, look, there's a boy lying there."

"Damian...oh no, he's bleeding!"

"That idiot didn't clip on his helmet." Dick hissed through his teeth. "Help!"

"Do you hear that?" Damian asked his mom.

"No, I don't." The woman said. "Let's get this boy to a hospital first."

"He's big."

"He's only around sixteen." The woman said.

"OK, OK, why can't we just leave him?" Damian asked.

"Cause' he'll die!"

"Oh, that...so why can't we leave him?" Damian asked again.

"Get his legs. I hope his neck isn't broken." The woman murmured as they weaved their way out of the clearing.

"HELP!" Dick screamed until his throat was raw with pain. The people never returned for them. "OK, Jaime, see if you can reach a hand into Tim's pocket, get his cell phone and speed dial Dad."

"I have to pull myself up, so hang on." Jaime warned. "Tim, swing me closer to your body and then let go, I'll hold onto you."

Jaime wrapped her arms around her brother's waist, his hand rested behind her back, ready to grab her. She reached a hand into his pocket. "There's no phone!" Jaime exclaimed.

"Damn, Tim, you didn't bring one?" Dick asked. "Oh, man, I didn't either."

"Mine broke." Jaime shrugged. "I have an idea. I'll climb up."

"You are the smallest." Dick nodded. "Careful, you'll have to climb a long way up without us, you know that right?"

"Yah, I know." Jaime nodded. "Tim, take a hold on Dick's body, so that he can hold the cliff with both hands."

Dick felt so weak, his legs dangled uselessly with nothing to help support him. His fingers dug into the face of the cliff as his arms began to tire. Jaime made her way up. Tim squeezed his brother tightly as his sister climbed on him. Dick's arms began to shake as she stepped on his shoulders. "You have to climb the rest. Be careful!"

"Yah, yah." Jaime swarmed her way up the cliff, once her foot slipped and she had to stop to catch her breath.

"Take your time, I don't want to watch you go kersplat!" Dick warned.

Jaime nodded and re-gathered her wits. It took another five minutes before she reached the top of the cliff and hoisted herself up. "Are you guys still there!?" She shouted.

"Yes, get Dad!"

Jaime ran back into the clearing and ran headlong into a rock hard chest. "Jaime?" Bruce asked and then hugged her in relief. "Alfred told me you guys were gone and then the hospital called and told me that Jason was there and then he told me that you guys were somewhere out here."

"Daddy, we need to get Dick and Tim, they're hanging for their life!" Jaime exclaimed, wiggling out of her father's embrace.

Jaime took off with her father close behind her. "Dick!" Jaime called.

"Down here!"

Bruce looked at his two sons dangling on the edge of their lives. "I can't hold on Dad!" Dick screamed.

"Hang on!" Bruce slid down beside his sons. "Dick, grab onto me."

"You won't be able to climb up." Dick protested.

"Trust me, chum."

Dick hooked an arm around his father's neck and Bruce began moving forward, his arms straining to pull himself and his two sons up. He landed on the top and dragged them up with him. Bruce immediately began prodding and poking each of them. Finding no real damages, he enveloped both of them in a hug. "What were you thinking!? You don't ride skateboards like this, not on trails where you can't see where you're going!" Bruce exploded. "Come on, let's get back home. I have a date over in less than an hour."

"How's Jays?" Jaime asked.

"He got stitches and Alfred took him back home. He's resting." Bruce answered stiffly.

"I'm sorry, Daddy, are you mad?" Jaime asked.

Bruce's stiff shoulders slightly relaxed and he looked at his daughter. "No, I'm not mad. It's OK, I'm just glad that you guys are OK."

"Sorry, Pop." Dick muttered. "It was...my fault."

"No, it wasnt." Bruce sighed. "It could've happened anywhere. It's OK, you three are safe and only one's hurt, that's all that matters. OK, chum?" Bruce draped an arm over his son's shoulders. "It happened and it's over, come on, I have to get cleaned up. Please make yourselves presentable."

"Who's the lucky girl?" Dick asked.

"Talia." Bruce replied.

"Isn't she Ra's Al Gul's..."

"Yes, she's one of my enemy's daughters, but...this is a business sort of date."

"Didn't you guys have a relationship?"

"Yes, Dick, we did." Bruce answered, obviously uncomfortable. "Now, if you're done with the interrogation. I'd like to get cleaned up."

When the four entered the manor, they could hear the television running. Jason immediately turned his head and greeted his family. "Hey, guys! I'm so glad you're OK!" Jason tried to stand up, but his head began to reel.

"How you feelin' Jays?" Dick asked as his younger siblings raced towards his brother.

"Like shit, my head's goin' nuts on me." Jason moaned.

"At least you're all right, and at least you didn't have to hang on a cliff for almost an hour." Dick said.

Alfred walked up to Dick, Jaime, and Tim and began to bandage them up. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, children, so easily hurt."

The four siblings shared a look and prepared to go take their showers after Alfred poked and prodded them some more. Eventually, the whole family looked perfect except for the few scratches. Dick flopped down on his stomach in the living room with an Xbox controller. "Hey, Dickhead, give me one. Watch me kick your sorry ass in Halo." Jason held out his hand.

Rolling his eyes, Dick handed his brother one and they immediately began playing. Jaime and Tim lied sprawled on the ground next to Dick with their Nintendo DS's. "Blam!" Jason punched his fist in the air. "Man, you suck! Three kills in a minute."

"You're cheating, get rid of that bazooka and watch me kill you."

"Hellz no! I'm doing anything but that. Blam!"

"You're being lame Jays. I'd beat you up but your head probably wouldn't be able to take it." Dick growled in annoyance.

"Sit! Sit! Sit!" Jaime yelled at her DS.

"Are you playing that stupid game with the dogs?" Jason asked.

"Yes, but it isn't stupid! These dogs are like real!" Jaime grinned. "And they usually listen to me!"

"Yet they're fake and not listening to you." Jason pointed out as he blasted his brother again.

Bruce walked by and shot his son a warning glance. At that moment the doorbell rang and Alfred made his way to opening the door. "Behave yourselves and then I'll let you stay up an extra hour tonight." Bruce bribed as he walked to greet his date. "Get up, kids."

Jason tossed his controller at Dick's head and forced himself up off the couch. Dick, terribly annoyed, flung his controller on the ground and strode after Jason. The younger siblings clutched their DS's for dear life as they made their way after their older brothers. "Talia, it's wonderful to be seeing you again. You look beautiful as always." Bruce greeted with his trademark playboy smile and seductive voice.

The woman giggled and said, "Oh, Bruce, as charming as always."

Dick rolled his eyes at his younger siblings as they all tried to hide their snickers. It was amazing how their father could go from an intimidating vigilante, stern father, to a young playboy. "Talia, I don't believe that you've met my children, they're in the hall as behaved as they can possibly be." Bruce said.

"Oh? Mr. Playboy has children?" The surprise was evident in her voice.

"Yes, four in fact." The pride was evident in his voice.

"Well, I have one son, is it OK if he comes in? He's in the driveway admiring your car." Talia said.

"Of course, I'll have Alfred bring him in. The kids were playing video games, I'm sure he could join them." Bruce smiled.

As if on cue, Damian appeared beside his mother. He looked almost exactly like her, except for his dark blue eyes that matched Bruce's. "Hello, Damian. I'm Bruce Wayne." Bruce shook the boy's hand.

"He's fifteen." Talia said.

"Oh, well, Jason's sixteen and Dick's seventeen, so I'm sure they'll get along fine. Come on, I'll show you my family." Bruce allowed her to slip her hand through the crook of his arm as he led her to the hallway where his children stood giggling about something. Bruce immediately knew what they were laughing about, but he wasn't about to let his date know.

"Dick, Jason, Tim, Jaime, meet Talia and her son Damian." Bruce introduced. "Talia and Damian, meet my children, Dick, Jason, Tim, and Jaime."

"Wow, who would've thought a young bachelor like you to have four children." Talia said in a silky voice that made Dick want to gag. "But I believe we've already met young Jason, we found him in the woods unconscious and took him to the hospital."

"Really, I'm truly in your debt then." Bruce said with another smile. "Thank you."

"Yah, thanks, though I don't really remember anything since I was unconscious." Jason shrugged.

"Kids, why don't you take Damian to the living room and play some video games? Alfred will make you guys some food while Talia and I go to the dining room." Bruce suggested, though it was more of an order.

Dick, with his open manner, led the group of children back into the living room and hooked up another controller. "We're playing Halo, we'll start over and this time I'm turning off the bazooka." Dick said as he handed Damian a controller.

For a few moments, all that could be heard was the clicking of buttons as the children played their games. "Roll over, roll over, roll over!" Jaime ordered, her frustration building as her dog didn't do what she told him to do.

"Are you playing that stupid game?" Damian sneered, his voice deep and taunting.

"It's not stupid." Jaime said defensively.

"Yah it is, you have a buncha lame dogs and they aren't even real." Damian scoffed, his voice carrying no trace of humor whatsoever.

Jaime's lower lip quivered as she tried to come with an answer. Jason came to her defense; no one messed with his siblings unless it was him. "Hey, she's just a little kid, let her play her game, all right?" Jason said.

"Just voicing my opinion." Damian murmured, a glint of hatred gleaming in his eyes.

Jaime switched games and battled Tim in Pokémon instead. "What are you playing now?" Damian asked with a taunt. "A stupid game with bunnies?"

"Dude, leave her alone, all right? Just chill, why do you have to do that?" Dick asked with a small frown.

"Do what? Just asking her a question." Damian shrugged. "Plus, this game's lame."

"Just cause' you lost ten times in a row." Jason muttered.

"What'd you say?" Damian spun around, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

"Whoa, just said that you lost ten times, all right? Geez." Jason muttered.

"You guys are retarted, I wonder what your dad sees in you four. Pathetic bunch of losers that lost their parents." Damian smirked.

Tim and Jaime's head snapped up as their older brothers seemed to freeze. "Hey, that's not nice." Tim exclaimed.

"That's not nice." Damian mimicked. "You guys are pathetic. All four of you, orphans, he's not even your real dad. You have no parents, you guys are nobody's and you'll always be nobody's."

"Shut the Fuck up." Jason growled.

"Ooh, cuss words, not in front of the children Jason." Damian crossed his arms of his chest.

"I said, shut up, you seem to forget that there are four of us and only one of you." Jason growled.

"Four wussies. I happen to be taller than everyone here except you. And those two will only be liabilities." Damain sneered.

Meanwhile, Talia and Bruce sat at the dinner table flirting and eating their dinner. "Bruce, you seem to be doing a good job with those four." Talia said, shifting in her seat.

"Thank you," Bruce smiled, "I try, but I can't take all the credit. Alfred does a lot to keep things in line."

"Well, Bruce, I need to tell you something."

"Go right on ahead." Bruce motioned for her to keep going.

"Damian's your son, Bruce..."

Bruce froze. He didn't know what to do, how did that happen? "What? I'm sorry? I don't think I heard you correctly."

"I think you did, Bruce. He's your son, legitimate, biological, and I want you to keep him. Here's his birth certificate, you're the father." Talia spoke quickly. "I can't take care of him. His grandfather's after him, after me, I have to go back, but you must keep him. I mean you adopted those kids, why can't you take in your own son?"

"Because...how?" Bruce frowned as the shock began wearing off.

"I don't want to explain, you won't forgive me. OK? If you don't believe you can test him, but I need you to take him. You owe me...you owe us..." Talia muttered.

"Are you...threatening me?" Bruce asked, his charm replaced by a death glare that he used on his enemies.

"Please, Bruce, that bat glare doesn't scare me." Talia said. "I was here for business, I want my son safe. And I know that he'll be safe with you, definitely when I see what you've done with your other kids. They were screwed up, Damian isn't."  
"Yes, but he'll create competition between my children. He won't fit in. We all get along because we're all screwed up Talia, if you want a good life for your boy then you should keep him. This isn't the way."

"Damian knows the truth." Talia said. "He won't forgive you, he will become a very dangerous enemy. Take him...I'm begging you."

Bruce's voice became a low growl that usually scared his enemies. "Fine, I'll take him in." Bruce growled, not even understanding why he was giving into her so easily. Perhaps because the boy was his blood and he knew that if the boy became twisted he would become a very dangerous boy to deal with.

Jason quickly stood up as Damian began moving towards him. He immediately wished he hadn't, his head was spinning in all directions, but he had learned how to mask his fatigue and weaknesses well. Tim and Jaime moved beside him, to give him any aid he would need. "Jays, lay off of him, all right? He's a guest and seriously, he's not worth getting grounded over." Dick muttered, moving in between his brother and Damian.

"Ha, I won't be a guest for long."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jason demanded.

"Why do you think you're so tough and shit?" Damian retorted.

"Cause' I could kick your sorry ass any day." Jason shot back.

"Really, bring it."

"Ha, I don't want to reform your face any more than it already is." Jason smirked.

Damian snorted angrily and replied, "Well, I'll have everyday to get into a fight with you anyway, so whatever."

"What are you talking about?" Dick, Jaime, and Tim asked.

"Can't you see the resemblance? I'm Bruce Wayne's son. His _real_ son. Not the one he adopted because he felt sorry for." Damian sneered.

The four children stared at the boy in complete shock. Yes, there was a facial resemblance, but no, this boy was not their father's child. Not in heart and that's what made his adoptive children stronger. "Our father's charming and nice, you're a jackass." Jason snapped.

"Jason!" Bruce scolded as he walked in and heard the last three words of Jason's sentence.

"Dad!" Jason spun around.

"I'll be having a word with you later, now, sit down, all of you." Bruce ordered and turned towards Talia to ask her to leave. "Damian, please, give us a moment."

She nodded and left the room with her son. Alfred went to close the living room doors so that they couldn't be overheard. As Bruce spoke, he wondered if he was making the right decision. What if Talia was sending him this child for sabotage? But what if she was telling the truth? "Damian will be coming to live with us." Bruce said.

"What!?"

"DAD!"

"Are you fucking serious!?"

"AWW!"

"Guys, please...stop...no cussing, Jays, and no whining all of you. He's going to be your brother." Bruce held up a silencing hand.

"We don't want another brother, Dad. Why can't we have a say in the matter? And why so sudden? This isn't fair!" Jason argued.

"Because..."

"We always decide together, this isn't together. This is you deciding!" Jason seethed.

"I don't like him, Daddy, he scares me! And he's mean, he made fun of my nintendogs." Jaime exclaimed.

"Jason did too."

"But Jason's my brother, and he always makes fun of me, but he doesn't mean it or anything. You didn't hear the way he said it."

"He doesn't seem like a good guy, Dad." Tim muttered.

Bruce rubbed his eyes, feeling weary all of a sudden. "Guys, he's going to be your brother no matter what. He's coming to live with us, please, cooperate with me." He looked at his oldest son. Dick refused to meet his eyes, the boy was angry.

"Well...Aren't you going to tell us!? Or do you think we don't know!?" Dick exploded after a moment of silence.

"What, Dick? What are you talking about?" Bruce looked at him quizzically.

"He's your son, damn it! Your freaking blood child!" Dick screamed. "Do you think we don't know? Oh yes, we know that demon is your son. He can come live with us, but he'll never be my brother."

His three siblings nodded their agreement. "Yah, Dad, he can come, but he's not our brother."

"Guys, come one, quit being so stubborn, give him a chance." Bruce said. "Don't be like this, just cause' he's my biological son, doesn't mean I care about him anymore than you guys. Actually, I care about him less at the moment. He's as stranger to me as he's stranger to you. Let's get to know him together. OK? You got to know Jaime in a year, give him a year too."

"Dad, we wanted a sister, remember? She clicked right in because she is our sister. We don't need blood ties to tell us who our family is." Dick said. "But fine, for your sake, we'll try, but I don't approve."

"Great, you guys rock." Bruce smiled. "I need to do a blood test on him anyway. Push him around a little and then I'll have Alfred bandage him up." Bruce winked at them. "But nothing serious, just romping around like you always do...outside of course. Um...play your lightsaber hockey game that you usually do."

"I thought you said that wasn't allowed." Jason felt a smile creeping up his face.

"You guys get too banged up in that game, but I give you permission this time." Bruce said.

"Sick." Jason grinned, sharing a glance with his brother.

"Alfred, let them in."

Talia gave Bruce a worried glance, but he smiled at her reassuringly. "Damian, welcome to the family."

* * *

How was it? Shall I continue? Give me some love or hate, I mean I always have room for improvement. :D


	3. Trouble

Since I actually got one review I decided to update again today!!! Haha, I'm like the happiest person on earth right now! Lol, enjoy! And I always forget to say that I don't own anybody or anything except for Jaime. :D Please review, it totally makes my day.

* * *

Two Days Later...

"Master Bruce, are you sure it's a good idea taking in Damian, sir?" Alfred asked.

Sighing, Bruce answered, "No, I don't, but he's my son!"

"So is Master Dick, Master Jason, and Master Tim."

"You know what I mean, Alfred."

"No, I'm not quite sure I do. I'm just saying, your children will feel threatened." Alfred went back to dusting the furniture.

"Dick!" Jason screamed. "Give me my shirt! I know you have it!"

A disheveled Dick came out of his room looking confused. "What?"

"School's starting soon, I need that shirt! I know you've taken it before and have wanted to keep it, so just give me the shirt." Jason shouted.

"I don't have it Jays, if I did, I'd give it back to you. You know that." Dick moaned sleepily.

Jason, as hotheaded as always, did not think. "No, Dickhead, I need it now. You don't understand. School's starting and I want to look nice!"

Realization dawned on Dick's face, "Oh, you like someone, don't you?"

"...Yes, OK!? Just gimme the fucking shirt!" Jason screamed.

"Boys, what's going on here?" Bruce demanded.

"He took my shirt!" Jason shouted.

"Please, Jays, don't yell. There are people who don't like it this loud in the morning."

"Who? Damian? I DON'T GIVE A FUCKING SHIT!"

"Don't ever talk to me like that again!" Bruce raised his voice to match his son's. "Now, Dick, if you'll allow me to search your room for the shirt."

Dick shrugged, "I don't care what you do, I don't have it."

Bruce and Jason entered his son's room and then began searching. "There it is! In the damn trash can!" Jason growled and grabbed the shirt. "It's ruined!"

"Dick..." Bruce looked at his son for an explanation.

The boy looked dumbfounded, as if he had no idea what just happened. "I don't know how it got there." Dick muttered.

Bruce and Jason stared at him for the longest time. "Oh, shit, you're telling the truth, aren't you?" Jason groaned.

Dick nodded, "I wouldn't throw the shirt in the trash can, I'd only take it to borrow it. Besides, why would I want to ruin your first crush?" Dick teased. "Is she hot?"

"Good point and yes, she's on fire." Jason nodded as the wheels in his head began spinning. The two brothers immediately snapped their fingers and muttered, "Damian."

"Now, boys, no jumping to any conclusions." Bruce said.

Dick scoffed, "Yah, Alfred misplaced it in the trashcan."

"I actually see what you're trying to do! You're trying to make him look bad, aren't you? To get him into trouble." Bruce said.

"Yah, Dad, we'd actually go through so much trouble to do that." Dick said sarcastically. "Has that boy blinded you? Geez, I'm outta here." He stormed into his bathroom as Jason followed his brother's example.

Bruce shook his head disbelievingly. He couldn't believe that his sons would do that, but neither did he want to believe that Damian was capable of doing such a thing. The boy looked so innocent for his age. For a moment, the house was silent, until Jaime screamed. Immediately, Dick shot out of his bathroom with Jason and Tim closely behind him, they burst into Jaime's room. Bruce groaned, the house was like a zoo this morning. He too ran to his daughter's room. On the ground, Jaime sat sobbing while hugging her battered, ripped up, bunny. "No, Mr. Sniffles....he's...gone..." She moaned.

"Come on, Jay, it's OK." Dick said, sitting beside his sister. Jason and Tim sat on her other side, trying to comfort her.

Bruce knelt down in front of her, knowing how much the bunny meant to his daughter, he muttered, "It's OK, Munchkin, Alfred will try to fix it up, all right?" Bruce said softly."Go get ready for school boys."

Jason nodded and left his room. Dick and Tim reluctantly followed Jason out as soon as they saw that their father had everything under control. "Let's go, Jaime, I'll have Alfred make you whatever you want for breakfast."

"But Dad, who could've done this to him?" Jaime gave him a teary eyed look. "It's not fair.

"It doesn't matter, Jaime, we'll fix it up. OK?" Bruce picked the small figure up and carried her downstairs. "Alfred, make one funnel cake with extra whipped cream and blueberries for this young damsel." Bruce said as he placed his daughter down on a chair. He usually never let her eat any of the unhealthy fattening foods for...any meal, but today he decided that he could pull a few strings.

Meanwhile, Dick, Jason, and Tim sat in a room and began discussing what happened. "This is so like him! The stinkin demon child tries to screw up our lives and make us look bad after!" Jason exclaimed. "And after what he did to my shirt and Mr. Snuffles, I'm gonna pound is freakin' face in."

"It's Mr. Sniffles, besides; don't be so hostile and impulsive." Dick rolled his eyes. "Let's just...relax and see what happens next."

"Easy for you to say." Jason scoffed. "Anyway, tonight he's going on patrol with us, let's see how that turns out."

The three of them shared a worried glance. "Let's eat breakfast." Dick suggested uneasily. "At least that won't be poisoned."

"Thanks for the thought, we needed that." Jason muttered.

Dick laughed humorlessly and made his way to the kitchen where his sister sat slurping whipped cream from the top of her funnel cake. "Oh man, that looks good. Can I have a bite?"

"Get your own." Jaime gave him her best imitation of her father's bat glare.

Dick grinned and shook his head, "No way, shorty, give me a bite." He reached over and grabbed his sister's slender hand that gripped the fork. "Mm...Roar..." He opened his mouth wide and prepared to shovel the piece of cake into his mouth.

"Ahem, Dick?" Bruce quirked a brow at his oldest son. "Are you serious? You know I like you eating healthy."

"Just a piece, Dad, c'mon. B'sides, why does she get a whole one!?"

"Cause' Mr. Sniffles has been in an accident and we're staying out late." Bruce explained.

"Yah...sooooo reasonable." Dick rolled his eyes and stalked off. He'd been doing that to Bruce a lot lately.

"BOYS! Hurry up! You'll be late for school!" Bruce shouted.

Dick started for the door, "I'm out." He threw the door open with a bang and started for the car without as much as a good bye.

"You didn't even eat breakfast!"

"I had a pop tart, Dad." Dick rolled his eyes.

"Not a breakfast and not healthy, and why aren't you wearing a jacket, it's December and it's snowing!"

"I'll eat something at school, sheesh, relax, plus, I'm not even cold. Don't be so paranoid."

"Fine, drive slow." Bruce warned.

"Yah…right." Bruce frowned at his son's answer.

Jason shot out the door after his brother in his plain white long sleeve shirt and saggy jeans. "Are you seriously wearing that? Get a belt!" Bruce groaned.

"No chance, Pop. I can't believe people say that you're hip." Jason laughed. "Bye."

Tim and Jaime trudged slowly down the stairs in their uniforms and backpacks. "This shirt itches." Tim whined.

"Oh well, hurry up, your brothers are going to leave without you." Bruce rushed.

"Why does Damian get to stay home?" Jaime asked.

"He doesn't, I'm taking him to school because I have to enroll him later."

"Oh, OK, bye Dad." Jaime gave her father a quick hug and ran out the door with Tim closely behind her.

"Took you two long enough." Dick muttered.

"What's your problem, man?" Jason asked.

"Nothing."

"Yah, whatever, hey, does this look nice?" Jason asked.

"Pull your jeans a little higher bro', I mean you wanna sag, but not so that you can't walk." Dick said. "I don't think girls like seeing your underwear."

"OK, OK."

"What's her name?"

"Cassandra Cain, she's hooooot!" Jason sucked in a long breath. "I mean she has the nicest body, nicer than Babs, and yah…"

"Have you tried talking to her yet?" Dick asked.

"Uh…no, I kinda get tongue tied. Plus, I'm too busy sleeping in class."

"Well, you might want to try talking to her first and not sleeping in class." Dick muttered.

"Sure, sure, what's on your mind?"

"I'm pissed off."

"He's mad cause' Dad didn't let him have any of my funnel cake." Jaime grinned. "But I saved him a piece, here!" She fished it out of her pocket and showed her brother the lint covered cake.

"Ew! Jaime, that's gross!" Jason made a face.

"Thanks for the thought Jay, but…I'm not hungry anymore. Just chuck it out of the window." Dick forced a smile at her.

"OK." Jaime rolled down the window and threw it out.

Soon Dick dropped his two younger siblings off at the elementary school and sped off to his high school. "All right, spit it out, bro'. I haven't seen you this mad since…well…since I ruined your first date." Jason cackled. "So worth it."

At a red light, Dick turned over and slugged his brother's arm. "No, it wasn't, I really liked her!"

"Whatever, that's not what's bothering you."

"Yah, obviously," Dick muttered, "it's Dad, he's pissing me off."

"Please, give me something new."

"No, not like you and Dad, it's not a disagreement. It's just that everything he does pisses me off. Like, I can't help it! Ever since that stupid Damian came into our home, I don't know, everything's been hell."

"Yah, I guess I see what you mean." Jason agreed. "He kinda distanced from us, just a little."

"Not distanced, it's like there's a barrier between us. Something like, we're not his blood kids, we can't get through it and Damian could because they're blood. And I hate it! Cause' we are his sons!"

"Dick, you're just being paranoid."

"No! I'm not!" Dick seethed. "Damian has come into our lives to ruin it, I just know it. He's been picking on Timmy too!"

"Yah, but it's not like Dad's taking sides or anything. Besides, I can see why he thought we were trying to make Damian look bad." Jason reasoned. "Relax, Dickaroo, Dad is just being Dad…he sees a lot and he's blind to a lot."

"I guess…" Dick shrugged. "I just hate the fact that he's all in my face all the time."

"Your face." Jason said sarcastically. "Haha."

Dick pulled into the parking lot, "Don't be late today."

"Yah, yah, there's Babs, go play kissy face." Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed his backpack. "I'm gonna go sleep in class."

"How do you even pass school?" Dick asked.

Jason grinned, "I sleep smartly, and I vary it."

"Yah…see you, talk to the girl too!" Dick smirked and headed towards Barbara Gordon. "Hey, Babs."

"Sup'." Barbara melted into his warm embrace. "How are you not cold?"

"I'm coldblooded." Dick muttered, there was no trace of humor in his voice.

"Dick?"

Dick averted his eyes and took her hand. "Come on, let's get on campus."

"Dick."

"Don't worry, it's nothing, anyway, did I tell you?" Dick said, forcing himself to smile.

"What?"

"Bruce just got another son." Dick said with false cheeriness.

"Oh, wow, his fifth? You guys are close to half a dozen." Barbara smirked.

"No, well, technically this would be his first." Dick said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"What?"

"You'll see him. He's a year younger than Jays and he has the same jet black hair, but he has Bruce's eyes."

"It seems as if you all have Bruce's eyes except Jaime."

"No, Babs, he really does have Bruce's eyes." Dick said.

"Oh, do you mean that Bruce is…"

"His father." Dick nodded. "Blood and everythin'."

"Aw, now come on Dick, you don't think that it'll take any of his love away from you now, do ya?"

"That's not what I'm worried about." Dick said stiffly.

"You're jealous."

"I'd never be jealous of that demon boy."

Barbara sighed, "Listen, babe, that boy may be Bruce's son by blood, but you, Jason, Timmy, and Jaime are his children by heart, and that's all that matters got it?" She stood on her tippy toes and gave him a kiss.

Dick sighed, "Yah, besides, this is where I get to forget about stuff."

"Did you study for the Calculus test?"

"Wait, what?" Dick's eyes widened.

"You didn't, did you?"

"There was too much on my mind, do you think I could pull off being sick and just ditch?" Dick asked.

"Don't even think about it." Barbara warned.

"I'm just kidding." Dick murmured.

"Sure you are, you're going to class."

"I will! Don't you trust me?" Dick asked with a playful smirk.

"Course' I do."

"Good." Dick wrapped an arm around her waist as they began walking to class.

* * *

Thanks 1000GreenSun for taking the time to review!!! :D You totally made my day. And others who took the time to read it too of course!!!! 


	4. UH OH

Hey everybody! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Read, enjoy, and don't forget to let me know what you all think!

Chapter Four

Jason entered the warm confines of his classroom, his eyes scanning for the girl of his dreams. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear her talk to him. "Excuse me." A melodic voice said. Her voice was music to his ears, he almost didn't want to reply.

"Oh, yah, sorry." Jason mumbled as he moved out of the way, realizing that it was Cassandra he repeated. "Um..yah, sorry."

"You said that already." She giggled.

"Yah…" Jason grimaced. "Sorry? Um…hey, I heard we were doing labs today, wanna be my partner?"

"As long as you stay awake while we're doing it, then sure." Cassandra smiled as she made her way to her seat.

"Cool, I'll stay awake." Jason grinned, mentally kicking himself for sounding so stupid. He put his head down at his desk and closed his eyes. His thoughts immediately roamed to Cassandra's perfectly shaped body, her beautifully chiseled face, and her musical voice. He couldn't get his thoughts off of her; her face was imprinted in his mind, making his heart race as he thought about her.

"Settle down class." Mr. Drone smacked his desk with a stick. "Listen, today is a lab day, pick your partners, follow the directions on the board and I will walk around to help you all. Hurry up, you have to finish by the end of the class period, lab write up is for homework."

Jason made his way towards Cassandra. "Hey, partner." He grinned, mentally kicking himself again for saying that.

"Hi, here are the safety goggles." She giggled as she handed him a pair.

"Thanks, um…so, what are we doing? I was taking a short nap when the Mr. Drone was giving instructions."

"I know, instructions are on the board. We have to mix this green stuff with this red stuff and see the reaction."

"Oh, that's not too bad." Jason reached out to grab the test tube."

"No, we have to measure it correctly and then boil it after and then submerge it into ice after that."

"What the…that's just plain weird."

"Hey, Mr. Drone did give the instructions." Cassandra grinned and began to make the measurements.

"Yah, that's true." Jason said, smiling back at her. "So, I wonder what this blue stuff does." Jason was never one to follow directions, nor' was he a person who thought before he acted.

"What?"

"This…" Jason grabbed the blue tube and mixed it with the red tube.

"That'll ruin our data!" Cassandra protested.

Jason shrugged, "I'm bored, let's have some fun." He gave her a wolfish grin, "Or are you too chicken?"

"Oh, it's on!" She grabbed a purple test tube and began mixing it.

Dick tapped his foot incessantly as he tried to calculate the answers to his math problems. They were insanely harder than he thought. He was always smart and able to wing any test that came his way, but this math test was…well…insane! "Damn it." He angrily muttered to himself. Bruce was going to kill him if he got an F on this test, definitely since he didn't study. Soon Dick found his eyes sliding over to the paper beside him as he furiously copied down the work. Dick told himself that next time he'd study as he wrote down his neighbor's work.

"Ha, I think mine turned yellow." Jason laughed. "What color's yours?"

"Mm…a really dark bluish/brownish, let's mix them!"

"OK," Jason poured his in and began laughing maniacally, "we are evil scientists. Muahaha."

Cassandra giggled some more and said, "I never knew you were this funny, you always seemed kind of quiet and dangerous."

Jason smiled, "Well, you can't really know a person until you give them a chance, right?"

"Yah…" Cassandra softly agreed as she leaned closer to him.

Soon their bodies were touching as their breathing quickened, Jason gazed down into her luminous face as her eyes trailed his lips. He slowly leaned in, his lips brushing hers enough to feel her warm breath against his. She leaned forward, melting her lips against his. "Ahem!"

The two of them sprang apart, dropping their test tubes at their teacher's feet. It sizzled and burned through the soles of Mr. Drone's shoes. "Aah! These were new! Oh gosh that hurts!" The man danced out of the chemical's way. "What did you two do? I gave you both explicit instructions! Mr. Todd, Ms. Cain, OFFICE! NOW!" The man shrieked.

Jason grimaced and exited the classroom with his new friend behind him. "Sorry, I got us in trouble." He apologized. "But that was a cool reaction!"

"It's OK, I actually enjoyed this class for once." She smiled at him again, her eyes mischievously gleaming. "I also enjoyed that kiss that we never got to finish."

Seeing where she was getting at, Jason leaned in and kissed her. For a minute they were lost in their own world, until their teacher opened the door and found them kissing outside of his classroom. "I thought I told you both to go to the office!" He marched them both down to the office and sat them there. "Stay!" He ordered and went back to his classroom.

"Well…I'm going to be in hella trouble." Jason groaned.

"Me too." Cassandra shrugged.

"So…you want go out with me once we're ungrounded?" Jason asked.

"I thought you'd never ask, but since I'm going to be grounded for life, I think you'll have to wait a long time." Cassandra laughed.

"No worries, I'm going to be grounded for life too."

"Then I'd love to go out with you once we're ungrounded." She said.

"Great." Jason grinned.

Dick glanced up at the clock, at his neighbor's paper, and then back at his. He couldn't risk getting caught, yet today was not his day. As soon as his eyes trailed over to the other paper, he found a pair of feet by his desk. "Mr. Grayson, I am very disappointed in you." Mrs. Trimley muttered, holding her hand out for his paper.

He softly groaned and handed his paper to her as he watched her tear it into pieces. "I believe you know the consequences."

"Yes, I do." He said as he packed his things into his backpack and headed for the office. Bruce was going to kill him. Dick shook his head, no, Bruce was going to torture him and _then_ kill him. It was the way his father worked, toy with the prey and then destroy it.


	5. Grounded for Life

Hey GUYS! Please review! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I'm not getting many and it makes me sad :( I need some motivation. Anyway, it's not much in this chapter, but next one will be action, totally promise!!!

Chapter Five

Bruce sat in his office with Diana across from him. Although this was a strict business meeting, Bruce Wayne could not turn down the opportunity of flirting with one of the most beautiful women in the world. Bruce turned on his charm and began to live up to his reputation. Of course, Bruce knew who Diana really was, but she had no idea that this was her cold colleague. "Ms. Prince, you are really beautiful."

"Oh, you flatter me." Diana smiled. "Now, let's get on topic here. I was hoping that you could help donate some money to the children's hospital. I know you help out there a lot, but it'd be great if you could help a little more financially. The hospital needs a lot of refurnishing."

"I'd be glad to help." Bruce said.

"Really?"

"Of course, hospitals are very crucial to a society, we need a good one here with the high crime and mortality rates." Bruce smiled. "Plus, I want to impress the Princess of Themyscira by saying that I'll do this. Which I will of course, no doubt, I'm happy to help people. But you know what I'd also be happy to do?"

"What?" Diana asked, knowing where the man was getting at.

"I'd be happy to take you on a date."

"I must say, I'm amazed you didn't ask sooner." Diana said.

"I'm amazed that I didn't too. Actually, I'm amazed that I haven't launched myself at you yet."

"Yes, I am too, but I know your reputation, Mr. Wayne, and I don't know if I'm willing to put my heart on the line with you."

"Trust me, my reputation is nothing. The media knows how to exaggerate. Give me a chance and I know you'll fall in love with me." Bruce said surely with his trademark smile.

"That's what I'm afraid of, I don't want to get hurt." Diana said. "You have a knack for jumping around with women."

"Trust me, I won't ever hurt _you_…Princess." Bruce softly said.

Perhaps it was his eyes that held so much emotion, or his voice that lost the cocky air, or his smile, suddenly losing its arrogant façade that made her say yes. "OK."

"Great, seven o' clock tomorrow, dinner in a fancy restaurant, I'll pick you up at six thirty." Bruce grinned, his arrogant air returning. She was almost sad to see his shields go back up. She had a feeling that a moment ago, she was talking to the real Bruce Wayne, not the one the media knew. It didn't matter though; his good looks and charm still drew her to him.

"Mr. Wayne, are you done with your meeting?" A voice called from the speaker in the office.

"Yes, I'm finished Leslie, thank you."

"OK, there's someone on the phone line for you." Leslie said.

"Sounds important, I'll see you tomorrow, Diana."

"I'm looking forward to it." Diana smiled, hoping that maybe he would drop his mask and show her his true side once again. Even if it was only for a second, she wanted to see him for who he truly was.

Bruce left the office and picked up the phone. "What did they do? Of course I'll be having a little chat with them later. I'll be over there in a minute." Bruce hung up and drove to the boys' school.

Principal Hayward nervously shook Bruce's hand. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the billionaire, unfortunately the man was also quite intimidating. The principal managed to give Bruce a feeble smile as he said, "Mr. Wayne, it's an honor to meet you, so unfortunate that it's under these circumstances.

Bruce nodded and smiled at the man. "Yes, will you explain to me what these two boys did?" Bruce sent his sons a hidden glare.

"Of course, who first?"

"I don't really care." Bruce said.

"Well, Jason wasn't following directions in class. He made out with a girl, mixed chemicals that could have been potentially dangerous, dropped them on his teacher, having the chemicals burn his teacher's feet. Not only that, when Mr. Drone sent your son to the office, he stood outside the door kissing his little girlfriend again!"

"Oh, Jays, couldn't you have just slept in class?" Bruce groaned aloud.

Hayward shot the billionaire a disapproving glance as his sons snickered. "I mean, it would've been less trouble." Bruce grimaced. "Anyway, I'll pay for the damage."

"It's not the damage I'm worried about, Mr. Wayne, it is your sons that I'm concerned about. You don't seem to have much control over them."

Bruce sighed, "Well…they're boys, teenage boys. No one can control them, not really. So Jason made a mistake, anyone could've done that. Besides, from what I just heard, I think the only mistake Jason did was kiss a girl that he liked in class and not follow directions."

"That and he hurt his teacher!"

"Not intentionally, he made an innocent mistake." Bruce defended.

Now it was the principal's turn to sigh, "OK, he won't be suspended, but he can't go to anymore classes for the day."

"O…K…" Bruce said. "And Dick, what did he do? He's usually a good kid." In fact, Dick was a perfect child. He had straight A's, perfect attendance, needless to say, he was perfect! Bruce was a bit confused to find his eldest son sitting in the office.

"Well, he cheated on a test."

"What, are you sure?" Bruce raised his eyebrows at the principal, unsure that he heard correctly. Dick _never_ cheated. He was too good for it.

"Yah, he cheated."

"Dick?" Bruce turned to look at his son.

"I did, I forgot to study. I'm sorry." Dick muttered.

"OK, I'll deal with you later." Bruce said and turned his attention back to the principal. "What will his punishment be?"

"A three day suspension, if it happens again, he'll be sent to Saturday school and third offense means that he's out of the school." Hayward said.

"OK, thank you, sir." Bruce shook the man's hand. "This won't happen again, I assure you."

"Yah, sure, sure, it was no problem at all." Hayward managed a feeble smile. "Oh, to lighten the mood, many of the teachers have been saying a lot about Damian. He's really ahead in all of his studies, very interactive, and teachers say that he's an angel."

"That's good to hear." Bruce smiled. "Bye, Principal."

"Yes, bye Mr. Wayne."

Once they stepped into the parking lot, Bruce spun around and demanded, "What were you two thinking?"

"Well I wasn't." Jason shrugged. "You forget, Dad, I don't think."

"I didn't want to fail the test." Dick grumbled. "You would've killed me."

"Looks like I'm going to have to kill you anyway, doesn't it?" Bruce glared.

"Sheesh, Dad, not like you've never cheated."

"This isn't about me, Richard." Bruce thundered. "I've taught you better than this, both of you. Jason, what you did was wrong, so don't think you're getting out of any trouble."

"Yah, yah, I got to make out with a really hot girl twice, so it doesn't matter." Jason smirked.

"Nice." Dick gave his brother a high five.

"Yah, nice, but now you're grounded for a week. Dick, you're grounded for a month, no TV, car, computer, or dates. You are to go to school, come home from school, eat, study, and train. That is it. Jason, same thing."

"OK, Dad?"

"What."

"Did you see the principal's face when you said that I should've just slept in class!? Man that was a priceless moment! Though I wouldn't have minded being suspended." Jason muttered.

"Yah, I know, I can't believe their thought of punishing students is to keep them from school. I wouldn't see that as punishment." Bruce grumbled. "Dick, take Jason home, I'll meet you guys back there."

"OK." Dick muttered.

"Are you pissed off again?"

"I told you this morning, everything he does pisses me off."

"He stood up for us though, you have to admit, pretty cool. I thought that he was going to rip my head off." Jason laughed.

"You didn't even do anything bad, you just have a retarded teacher. Man, I'm going to be tortured for a month."

"Yah, harsh, life sucks, but we could still chill outside." Jason grinned.

"Didn't you hear him? I have to stick to my books." Dick muttered.

"OK, OK, man, you're really pissy."

"Shut up Jays!" Dick growled.

"OK!" Jason shouted, throwing his hands up in a frustrated gesture. "Whatever, Dickhead."

"I said, shut it!" Dick shouted, taking a hand off the wheel to elbow his brother.

Bruce drove next to his sons; the jerky movements revealed that they were arguing. Bruce prayed to god that they wouldn't get into a car accident. He was already having the media hound him for flirting with Wonder Woman and for being a single parent of five children. He did not need the media to think that he was a careless, irresponsible father either. He rolled down his window and shot his sons a glare. "Cut it out." He ordered as Jason rolled his window down. "I'll see you at home, hopefully in one piece." He then sped away.

"So Dad, what's up?" Jason said as he entered the mansion. "You seem pretty stressed out."

"Well, for one, I'm raising five kids, two who just can't seem to stay out of trouble." Bruce said. "Two, the media won't leave me alone. Sure I want a reputation as a playboy and a rich billionaire, but seriously, I'm getting sick of it. They seem to only hound me on every mistake I make. The news of you two being suspended will leak out and I will once again be under scrutiny."

"So, this is all for your reputation?" Dick asked.

"No, this is for both of you to settle down and for me to stop playing around so much." Bruce said. "This has been a wakeup call, I need to keep a closer eye on you boys. I trusted you guys and you didn't do much to keep it."

"Sorry, Dad, but you know me. I was just being me." Jason cackled and headed up to his room. "Does the grounding apply right now?"

"Yes, it does."

"Fine, I'm going to eat then." Jason grumbled.

"Dick, I hope you learned your lesson." Bruce said.

"Yah, yah, I did, OK? It won't happen again, yah, got it." Dick muttered, rolling his eyes, a habit Bruce was getting sick of.

"You, OK, chum?" Bruce frowned. His son had been strangely moody lately, something he usually wasn't. Dick was usually the relaxed one in the family who liked to lighten the mood when things were tough.

"I'm fine, I'll go study." Dick stormed up to his room, leaving Bruce to wonder what he was doing wrong with his children.

Hours later, Alfred picked up the rest of his children and Bruce forgot about the whole ordeal. "Hey, Dad!" Jaime and Tim leapt into their father's embrace. "Guess what we saw today! We saw a volcano."

"It was fake." Damian muttered.

"So, it was still cool." Tim stuck his tongue out, knowing that the older boy couldn't do anything to him while his father was near.

"That's good." Bruce smiled.

"You're home early today." Tim mused.

"Yah, I am."

"Wanna play with us?" Jaime asked. "Let's read a bedtime story."

"It's not bedtime." Bruce pointed out. "But I will, after patrol tonight, I promise. Now, go do your homework and go play."

The two younger children bounded off into the living room, still excited about their day. "How was school, Damian?" Bruce asked.

"It was fine, nothing interesting." Damian said. "Though the teachers gave me a crapload of homework."

"Well that's school for you, you better get started." Bruce urged. "You're patrolling with us tonight."

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Next CHAPTER all action!!! :) And more Damian, I might update soon if you guys just give me some more reviews please!!!!


	6. Patrol

It's a fairly short chapter, thanks for all who have read and reviewed! It's probably not as good as the other chapters, but I promise, next chapter, long as can be!!!! I think...or maybe next next chapter. lol. ENJOY!!!

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Chapter Six

"Hey kids, let's go suit up, I'm introducing Damian to the Justice League and then we're going on patrol." Batman called as he finished putting on his utility belt.

"Aye, aye, Batman!" Jaime did a one arm somersault and then grabbed her suit. "Batgirl ready to attack!"

"Nightwing done." Dick laughed as he pulled on his mask.

"Robin..." Tim grinned as he finished suiting up.

"Sparrow," Jason pulled on his dark grey suit.

"What am I again?" Damian asked. "Batboy? Oh wait, I'm Owl"

"Since you can't come up with anything else creative." Jason sneered.

"Hey, she's Batgirl, why isn't anyone picking on her?"

"No one's picking on anyone, besides, she didn't pick that name. Dad made her take it since she wanted something utterly ridiculous." Dick explained. "She wanted to be called Bunnicula and dress up as a giant rabbit with her own sidekick, Mr. Sniffles."

"Damian, remember, call us by our codenames, not by our real names. I know you've only been training with us for a couple of days and it'll take some getting used to, with the new tools and new environment, but don't worry. We all have your back and uh, today should be fairly quiet, plus it's just an introduction. No worries." Bruce said. "Now, everyone ready? I'm sending you guys to the watchtower."

Alfred came down, "Now, now, Master Bruce, you should leave at the same time as them, I'll press the button."

"Good idea, Al." Tim grinned.

"It's Alfred, Mister."

"Robin, pull it together." Bruce ordered as he finished suiting up.

"Ooh, he has his growl on, OK, now it's serious." Jason said.

"Sparrow." Batman shot his son a warning glance. "Hit it Alfred."

Immediately, the bat family was transferred into the watchtower. "Whoa! Bats! You gotta stop doing that!" Flash jumped. "Ooh, there's a new kid."

"Flash!" Batgirl and Robin tackled the man in a big hug.

"Hey, kiddos, wanna tell me who the other little bird is?"

"He's Owl, just joined our team." Robin smiled.

Batman explained, "I brought the whole bat team here to make some introductions, plus, Batgirl's been missing you guys."

"Aww." Flash laughed and ran around the two as fast as he could so that they could float up in the air.

"Whee!"

"You call this guy a superhero?" Damian muttered under his breath.

"Who's the new bird?" Wonder Woman asked as she walked in, followed by the rest of the league founders: Green Lantern, J'onn, Hawkgirl, and Superman.

"He's Owl." Jaime repeated as she was swooped up in the air by Green Lantern.

"Hey, there's my favorite bat."

"Oh wow, a baby hero." Damian rolled his eyes as he muttered under his breath for the umpth time that night. "Sides' WW is hot."

Superman frowned at the new hero's words. "I like your sidekicks. Little batbirds, bet all of Gotham's villains are freaked out now." Superman commented.

"Is that sarcasm?" Batman asked darkly.

Batgirl looked at Batman with amusement. Her father was so stony whenever he put on the suit. She on the other hand, was the same little girl. "We get to patrol tonight." Batgirl said proudly. "Batman says that I get to come along."

Green Lantern glanced at Batman with concern as he smiled at her and said, "That's great! Be careful though."

Batman shrugged, "She's ready, anyway, everyone meet Owl."

"I thought this was a bat family, yet everyone's a bird." Hawkgirl laughed. "They should be my sidekicks."

"True." Batman said dryly. "We gotta go, comm us if you need anything."

"OK, bye Bats!" Flash waved and ran back to the monitors.

"Bye." The leaguers waved their goodbye as the bat clan disappeared into the dark corners of Gotham City.

"OK, listen closely, Owl, you're with me. We're going to patrol the north side of Gotham. Nightwing, you're west. Sparrow, east. Robin and Batgirl, you're south. Tonight should be fairly easy, but if you see anything, call back up. Got it?"

"Batman, are you sure it's a good idea to leave the two little guys alone?" Nightwing asked, his voice dripping with concern.

"Fine, Robin and Owl, you go south. Nightwing and Sparrow, you guys can handle yourself, right? Just be careful and remember to call for backup before confronting anyone. Batgirl, you're with me. We're going to the more violent part, so be ready." Batman glanced at each of them. "I trust you guys, stay safe, and take care of each other. No confrontations without telling me first."

"Nightwing, out." He swung off, followed by Sparrow.

"Go that way, Robin, Owl, take care."

Batman motioned for his daughter to follow him. He hopped off of a building and hoped that his daughter could keep up. He didn't want to turn around, because he knew that if he saw her leaping off, his heart would probably stop beating. Yet, the soft pounding of her feet landing behind him was enough to bring him comfort. "See those guys, kid? They're gang mobs, they ship in weapons for their leaders." Batman pointed to a dark corner where there were a few men standing. "We have to watch all sides and then we disarm them, tie them up, and leave them for the authorities."

"Aye, aye." Batgirl grinned. "I'll take the big guy."

"Um, no, you take the right side, I'll take the left. Do you remember all of your training?"  
"Duh."  
"OK, um, get everything ready, on my signal." Batman said.

"OK."

"Now." Batman leapt off the building and hit the first man feet first, knocking him out cold and immediately moving towards the next man.

Batgirl followed her father's example, except she was on the right side. She meticulously dodged the bigger man's punches and tripped him with her scrawny feet. After having him fall to the ground, she took her batarang and knocked him on the head. "One down!"

She spun around and somersaulted backwards as another man drove towards her. Batman smashed his fist into the man's face as he neared his daughter. No one was going to lay a finger on that little bat, not if Batman had anything to say."You OK?" Batman asked as he finished tying the rest of the mob members up.

"Yah, that was fun!"

Batman ignored the comment and motioned for her to follow him as they patrolled the rest of the city. "Batman, it's Nightwing, I've spotted another group of the mob members, permission to intervene?"

"How many?" Batman asked.

"About five, they're loading equipment into a truck."

"Sounds dangerous, are the men armed?"

"Yah, but nothing I can't handle." Nightwing replied.

After a moment, Batman replied, "Go for it, be careful, be smart, I'll be over there shortly for back up. Give me your coordinates."

"There, I'm out." Nightwing grinned as he bounced from foot to foot with excitement. He hadn't expected his father to say yes. He got his batarangs out and swooped down on the man that he thought was going to be the biggest threat. He immediately disarmed the armed men and knocked each of them out with ease. Batman and Batgirl came moments after for assistance. They helped him tie the men up and call the authorities. "Nice job, Nightwing."

"Thanks, I bet I was their worst nightmare. Aw, never mind, you still are." Nightwing laughed and glanced at his sister. "How's first day on patrol with real action?"

"Awesome!!!" Batgirl grinned. "I took out a huge guy, it was bam, bam, bam!"

"OK, guys, we're done." Batman said as he shot off his cable and shot up a building. He commed the rest of his children and told them to meet back at the cave.

Meanwhile, Damian and Tim were wrestling on the rooftop of a bank. "Get off of me!" Tim screamed as he tried to throw the bigger boy off of him.

Damian sneered, "Take back what you said, take it back!"

"No, you are an idiot! And a stuck up snot face!" Tim added.

Damian slammed his fist into Tim's gut, knocking the air out of the younger boy for a few moments. "Last one back's a loser, better not tattle tell on me."

Tim struggled to get up as his body screamed in protest. Once he was on his feet, Damian was already long gone. "Uggh," Tim wiped a sweat off his brow and leapt off the building.

"Tonight was successful, guys, really proud of you all." Bruce smiled at Dick, Jason, and Jaime. "Wait, where's Damian and Tim?"

"We're here." Tim stumbled into the cave, his body battered.

"Tim! What happened!?" Bruce demanded as he took in the sight of his beat up son.

"Damian, he's a jerk." Tim growled. "We got into a fight and he beat me up."

Damian walked in behind him with a winning smirk on his face. "Little tattle teller."

"Damian, did you?" Bruce glared.

"Yah, I did, he's a little punk, and we just got into an argument, that's all." Damian shrugged as he pulled off his mask.

"What'd you do to him!?" Bruce demanded as he poked and prodded his son's ribs.

"Gave him a beating he deserved." Damian shrugged again. "I'm hungry, did Alfred make us anything?"

Bruce grabbed Damian's arm, "Kids, get your suits back on, we're headed up to the watchtower, _now_."

"No, Batman, I don't see anything. He and Robin just got into a small squabble." J'onn explained. "It was an argument."

Batman nodded, "Thanks, J'onn, now to take these little bats home."

"Bye!" The rest of the justice league waved again as the bat family disappeared out of sight.

"Bed guys, now, Damian, stay here." Bruce ordered.

The rest of them reluctantly trudged up to the mansion as Damian stood staring at Bruce. "Yah?"

"What's wrong with you? You can't just beat up your brother like that! He's half your size! Lay off." Bruce shouted.

"It's not like it was all my fault! He started the argument." Damian shrugged. "It's whatever."

"Yah, right, go wash up and get some sleep." Bruce ordered.

"Sure, night."

Bruce shook his head, wondering what was wrong with that boy. He then headed upstairs to find Jaime in Tim's room. The two of them were huddled in the bed waiting for him to come in to read their bedtime story. "I still get scared sometimes." Jaime whispered.

"Me too, you can stay here tonight."

"OK, I think I will." Jaime smiled.

Bruce, leaning against the doorframe asked, "What if I get scared?"

The two of them made room in the middle for their father and motioned for him to come in. He laughed and crawled onto the bed, giving them each a big hug. "All right, shall we finish Peter Pan?" Bruce asked.

The two nodded eagerly. Bruce began reading aloud, making sound affects for his children's entertainment. "Can you stay with us tonight?" Tim interrupted.

"…Sure." Bruce lifted the covers and wrapped his arms around his children. They snuggled close to their father as he finished the story and soon fell asleep.

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What do you all think?


	7. Gone Baby Gone

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I hope I got the chapter number right, lol. ANyway, thanks to all who have supported this story. Here's a new turn in events! :D Enjoy, it's extra long since I'll be taking a little longer to update. :(, but still, read, please review, and ENJOY!!!!

Thank you,

PeaceGuardian

* * *

Chapter Seven

Bruce groaned and cracked his neck. He slept sitting up the whole night because Tim and Jaime were scared. He looked down beside him and could see the two figures sleeping soundly. A small smile formed at the corners of his lips as he saw how peaceful they looked when they slept. "OK sleepyheads, time to wake up." He whispered as he gently nudged them both.

"Mm…five more minutes…" Tim mumbled.

"No chance." Bruce swung the boy off the bed, placing him unsteadily on his feet as he climbed off. "Open your eyes."

Tim made no motion to move, rather, he tipped over as he continued to snore loudly. "Timothy Drake, wake up!" Bruce ordered.

Immediately, Tim's eyes flew open. "What?"

"Go get ready for school." Bruce ordered and moved on with Jaime.

Jason woke up and entered Dick's room. "I hate you, Bro', you get to stay home and sleep in." He grabbed something hard off of Dick's desk and hurled it at his brother's sleeping form.

Dick moaned and buried himself deeper in his bed. He wanted his brother to lay off, last night was tiring for him. They didn't patrol really late, but the whole day was long. Plus, he was not looking forward to today. Jason angrily cursed under his breath and reached for something else on his brother's desk. His fingers wrapped around a small statue of two acrobatics and he tossed it at his brother's head. "You're making me go to school with the demon child, damn it."

"Ow!" Dick sat up and grabbed the statue. "Don't ever touch this again!" He roared and gingerly placed it on his desk. "Get out, Jays!"

"All right, all right, sheesh Mr. Crankypants."

Jason walked out of the room to run straight into Damian. The younger boy shot Jason a glare and it annoyed Jason that it looked a lot like his father's. Stumbling down the stairs, Jason slung his backpack on one shoulder and made his way to the kitchen where breakfast was laid out for him. Soon the whole family was at the breakfast table eating. A glance at the clock and Bruce knew that they had to hurry up. Unfortunately, he had volunteered to drive his children to school since Dick was suspended and grounded. "Hurry up guys, in the car." Bruce rushed.

Tim and Jaime took their time to pull on their shoes, tie their shoelaces, and put their books into their backpacks. Jason and Damian made their way to Bruce's car while Bruce stayed to rush the younger children. "Are you done?"

"Yah." Tim and Jaime stood up. "Oh, wait, I forgot my crayon box!" Jaime exclaimed.

"You don't really need it." Bruce said.

"Yes, I do! We're coloring today! It's how we learn division, we color the marbles!"

"Can't you borrow them?"

"No, I'll get in trouble." Jaime said, scurrying up the stairs.

Bruce sighed and glanced at his watch. He needed to finish his work early today for his date with Diana. He stood at the bottom of the stairs tapping his foot as his patience began to wane. "JAIME!!! It's been two minutes!" Bruce shouted.

"I can't find mine! Hang on, I'll ask Dick!" Jaime said bursting into her brother's room before Bruce could stop her.

"Oh crap." Bruce muttered as he started for the stairs. "Timmy, get in the car."

"I'll go help her find them!" Tim leapt on the first step only to be caught midair by his father.

"No," Bruce shook his head. Why was it that his children chose to be stubborn when he was in a rush? "Car, now."

"Aw…fine, that was fun though!" Tim darted out the door.

"Dick, I need your crayons!" Jaime urgently said.

"I don't have any, go away."

"How do you color then?" Jaime asked.

"I don't, now please leave…NOW." Dick growled.

"Aw…Dick, I really need them."

"I don't have any!" Dick roared as he hurled a pillow at his unsuspecting sister. "LEAVE!"

The pillow smashed into Jaime, sending her tumbling to the ground. "I was just asking." She muttered. "Sorry."

Dick ignored the hurt look on his sister's face. No one would leave him alone and he was tempted to kill every one of them. Bruce entered to room to find his daughter pushing the heavy pillow off of her. "Was that necessary, Dick?" Bruce asked as he lifted his daughter off the ground.

"Go away."

"Fine." Bruce said carried his daughter out of the room. "Don't bother Dick today, OK?"

"Why not?"

"It's a bad day for him, bad memories. Now, I'll tell your teacher that you need to borrow crayons so that you won't get in trouble, OK?" Bruce said.

"OK." Jaime shrugged and the family filed out into the car.

Tim and Jaime hopped out of the car and made their way to their classrooms. Tim gave his father a large grin and led his sister onto the campus. He had become very protective of his younger sister and warded off all of the bullies on the playground. Bruce sighed as he dropped the next two children at their school. "Try not to not blow anything up today." Bruce wryly smiled.

"I'll do my best, Chief." Jason mock saluted and bounced out of the car.

Damian gave his father a small smile and hopped out of the car after his brother. "I'm serious, boys!" Bruce called after them and then sped off to the billion dollar corporation.

Jason jogged towards Cassandra; she was waiting at a light post for him. Last night Jason had snuck a phone call at Cassandra so that they could have a designated meeting spot. They had both confessed their feelings for each other in under five minutes! "Hey, Cass." Jason said, pulling her into him.

"Hi, who was that boy?"

"My demonic brother, I, unfortunately have too many brothers for my taste." Jason groaned. "I have a pissy older brother at home, a bratty little brother at another school, and this demon boy here."

"I'm going to go with you like that demon brother the least."

"You read my mind." Jason grinned and kissed her. "Don't get me wrong, they get on my nerves, but you know, they're my brothers."

"I see, don't you have any sisters?"

"Yah, one, she's a little bratty too, luckily she chooses to tag along with Alfred or Tim, not me." Jason chuckled. "Doesn't matter, siblings are supposed to be bratty and annoying, that's what makes them your brothers and sisters."

"I was thinking, I don't think that Mr. Drone will be happy to see us today."

"Nope, he won't." Jason nodded in agreement.

"He probably thinks that we're suspended." Cassandra's eyes gleamed mischievously.

"Yep, he isn't that bright."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Totally, we're outta here." Jason grinned and led her off campus.

The two of them bounded off to a nearby park and rested there while Damian witnessed the whole scene. He smiled maliciously and then headed towards the principal's office to tell the man what he just saw.

"Jason Todd!" Bruce thundered as he entered the principal's office. "Not again!"

"Sorry, Dad…" Jason grimaced.

"You are going to be grounded for an additional month! And you are not ever going to ditch school again!"

"OK, OK."

Bruce sighed, "Let's go home, I have to get ready for my date."

"Is she hot?" Jason asked.

Bruce shot Jason a glare which his son laughed off. "None of your business."

"Hey, she could be a potential mother."

"Or just another woman." Bruce pointed out.

"True that, but don't you ever think of settling down?"

"Sometimes…"

"Maybe this one's the one, who is she?" Jason suggested.

"Diana Prince."

"Isn't she—"

"Yes, she is." Bruce nodded.

"Ooh, I can't check her out, she's too old." Jason made a face. "Not that you're old or anythin'." He added quickly. "But…she could be a keeper, not a danger, a colleague, and she could seriously support you through it all."

"Exactly, she's a colleague, that's the problem." Bruce muttered.

"Dad, did I ever tell you that you needed to loosen up? Cause' you really should."

"Yes and maybe, let's see how this date goes, shall we? Perhaps we'll just be friends with benefits." Bruce said.

"Ew, gross Dad! I didn't need to know that!"

"You know that I have plenty."

"I lied, you are getting old, so stop being so gross!" Jason made a face.

Bruce gave him a playful smack on the head. "Grow up."

"Whatever, Dad, still gross!"

"I'll stop being 'gross' if you stop making me go to the principal's office everyday!"

"Fair game." Jason smirked as he held his hands out in defeat. "I must say, you are pretty smart."

Bruce raised a brow at his son. "OK, you're a freaking genius!" Jason groaned.

"Thank you." Bruce laughed. "Now get in the car so that I can get ready for my date."

"Where's the demon boy?"

"Alfred drove him home and picked up the two little guys so that he wouldn't have to wait for you and me." Bruce sighed. "By the way, don't call him demon boy, please."

"Why? That's what I think he is. I call Dick, Dickhead, and he's demon boy, I think that's fair."

"You're hopeless."

"Hey! I take that to the heart." Jason said with mock hurt.

"Sure…" Bruce pulled into the driveway. "No more ditching class, got it?"

"Yah…"

"Or else I swear I'm going to put a GPS chip in your skin so that I know where you are all the time. And it won't let you get out of the boundaries I set for you or else cops will swarm the place you're at." Bruce warned.

"Gotcha, now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go eat." Jason grinned and shot for the door.

Bruce rolled his eyes and hung up his jacket. Alfred came out to greet him. "Good afternoon, Master Bruce, would you care for something to drink before you get ready for your date?"

"Thanks, Alfred, but I'm already behind schedule."

"Yah, he has to make himself look nice or else his date will pass out." Jason cackled.

Bruce smirked, but ignored his son's comment as he bounded up the stairs. He stopped by Dick's room to make sure the boy was all right. Bruce peeked in the room to find his oldest son staring at a framed photo of his parents. Dick's back was to Bruce, yet Bruce could still see his son's pain filled face. "You OK, kid?" Bruce asked.

Dick spun around in embarrassment and tried to hide the photo. "D-Dad." He stuttered.

"It's OK, I know you were looking at the picture. You all right?"

"Yah, I'm fine, I just wanted to…remember…" Dick trailed off.

Bruce mentally sighed as he knew that his son would need to talk. He was going to be fashionably late for his date. He entered his son's room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey, it's OK to remember."

"It's not that…sometimes…I forget their faces and there are days where I don't even think about them." Dick raised his guilt filled eyes to meet his father's. "I feel like I'm drifting away from them, like I'm going to forget them."

Bruce met his son's gaze with the same torment. "Listen, Dick…before you kids came along there wasn't a day that went by when I didn't think about my parents, about their death, about them! And it was torture witnessing the replays of their deaths over and over again, it was hard living my life bitterly and cold…but I know now that they don't want you to think about them all the time. They want you happy."

"How do you know?" Dick demanded.

"Because…if I ever die, I don't want my kids thinking about me all the time. Sure, I want you guys to remember me as the person I was, but not be trapped in the single horrifying moment of death and never move on." Bruce smiled. "Look, Dick, you can remember them and it's OK if you don't always think about them. I remember my parents now and then, but the less I think about their deaths the happier I am, just think of the good times and hold onto those. Trust me, parents want their kids happy."

"O…K…" Dick muttered. "So, I heard you have a date today, who is the lucky girl?"

"It's Diana Prince, yes, Wonder Woman. Are you going to be OK, though? I could still cancel."

"No, Dad, go. I'll just…think about them a little more. I was wondering if I could visit their…" Dick swallowed.

"Go ahead, take the car. I trust you not to run off to any parties."

"I won't Dad, now go make yourself pretty." Dick laughed.

"Hey, I don't have to do that much to make myself pretty, do I?" Bruce asked.

"Go away." Dick rolled his eyes and turned his attention elsewhere.

Bruce then dressed himself in one of his expensive Armani tuxedoes and left to pick up Diana. When he first set his eyes on her, he literally thought that he died and went up to heaven. Diana Prince was absolutely gorgeous and there were no words to describe her beauty. She was dressed in a red dress that showed off her curves and her bare back. "You're staring." She whispered.

Snapping out of his trance, Bruce gave her a seductive smile and took her hand. "Only because you had me under your enchanting spell." He replied as he led her to the sleek Lamborghini.

"Bruce, you really have a way with words."

"Really? Because I can't find any words to describe the way you look right now, Ms. Prince, beautiful just doesn't quite cover it." Bruce softly said as he slid into the driver's seat next her.

"Once again with the flattery."

"It's not flattery, only truth, now, I hope you worked up an appetite."

"Crime fighting burns a lot of calories." Diana grinned.

"Well then, bon appétit." Bruce smiled as he led her into the expensive French restaurant. "Bruce Wayne."

"Oh, Monsieur, follow me s'il vous plait." The plump man grabbed two menus and led the couple down to a moonlit table.

Bruce pulled a seat out for Diana and then seated himself across from her. "What should I order?" Diana asked.

"Anything you want, come on, you're with a billionaire right now."

"True, I think I'll get the most expensive thing."

"Go for it." Bruce shrugged as he ordered two glasses of champagne.

The two of them ate their dinner while flirting with each other at the same time. Bruce was a master of wooing women. Tonight, he toned down his seductiveness. Her luminous face was captured in the moonlight and once again, Bruce found himself caught off guard and staring. "You're staring again." Diana whispered with a small smile. She found herself enjoying it when he stared at her. It was the way he looked at her, unconsciously and she knew right away that he truly liked her.

"I'm sorry; I'd stop if you'd stop putting spells on me." Bruce charmed her with another smile.

For a brief moment, they both locked eyes and Bruce swore that he stopped breathing. She was intoxicating. Diana looked into his deep blue eyes; she'd seen those eyes before. Playful, yet filled with unspeakable emotions. Bzz! Bruce reached down and grabbed his phone, at the same time Diana picked up her cell phone. "Hello?"

Diana stood up. "I'm sorry, Bruce, I have to go, emergency at the watchtower."

"Yah, it's fine, I have to go too." Bruce forced a smile.

Diana stood up and flew out of the restaurant, leaving Bruce to pay the bill. Immediately after, Bruce sped home and was there in less than 2 minutes. "What happened, Alfred? I thought we banned peanuts!" Bruce half shouted as he saw his daughter wheezing.

"We did, somehow it was in her food and hers only." Alfred said. "I gave her the insulin, I don't know if it's working. She's had the reaction for approximately 4 minutes."

Bruce walked over to couch to check on his daughter. "You OK, Shorty?"

Jaime nodded as she coughed. "I can't breathe."

Bruce immediately fished out the emergency inhaler that he carried in his pocket and knelt down beside her. "Here you go."

Jaime gratefully grabbed and used it. "Still can't breathe." She whispered as her eyes began closing.

Seeing his daughter's eyes close, Bruce immediately panicked. "Alfred, where are the boys!?"

"I sent three of them to the watchtower, you were needed. Dick's at the cemetery. It's OK, stay with Jaime sir, I think you should take her to the hospital." Alfred suggested. "I didn't think it was that bad, I'm sorry, Master Bruce."

"No, it's fine." Bruce gathered his daughter in his arms and ran to the Lamborghini. He would've preferred the Batmobile, but that would've given away his identity. He expertly weaved through traffic and sped to the hospital. "Jaime, stay awake, OK?"

She nodded and began coughing some more. That was the cue for Bruce to sprint her into the emergency room. "She has a peanut allergy." Bruce hurriedly said.

"OK." The nurse rushed her into one of the operating rooms in the hospital, leaving Bruce to pace outside their door.

Half an hour later, the doctor came out. He was a young good looking man around Bruce's age, yet he wasn't half as good looking as Bruce. "Well, isn't it the famous Bruce Wayne?" Doctor Owen sneered.

Bruce frowned at the man's tone but politely greeted him. "How is she, Doctor?"

"She's fine, she got lucky; the insulin slowed down the allergy. It could've been fatal, you should have taken her here right away." The doctor shook his head. "You should take better care of your children."

"I…wasn't at home." Bruce muttered.

"Yah, well, maybe you should stop going to parties and take care of your children!" The doctor spat bitterly.

"What's your problem?" Bruce demanded.

"My-My problem? My problem is that child services haven't taken your children away from you already!" The man spat.

Bruce angrily pursed his lips. "I do my best."

"By what, getting drunk? Hitting on ladies? I save people's lives while you spend away your money like a spoiled rich kid. You know what, Wayne, grow up."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Bruce growled.

"Really, like today? You went on a date on the day of your son's parents' deaths."

"Can I go see my daughter, now?"

"No." Owen moved in Bruce's way.

"Excuse me?" Bruce dangerously lowered his voice.

"I called child services."

"For what? I didn't do anything, now, I want to see my daughter."

"I'm afraid you can't do that right now." Owen smirked. "Child services are on their way to your house and here."

A muscle in Bruce's arm rippled as he tensed up with fear and anger. He turned away from the doctor and strode outside. "Are you walking away? Without a fight? You're weak, Wayne, weak." Owen called.

Bruce ignored the comments and entered his car to call Alfred. "Get the kids home, NOW! Child services are on their way, is Dick home?"

"They're home, Master Bruce, don't worry."

"OK, I'm going to try to see Jaime again." Bruce muttered and reentered the hospital. He strode purposefully up to the doctor and demanded, "I want to see my daughter."

"Don't be a child."

"I swear, if you don't let me see my kid right now, you'll regret it. I appreciate you saving her life and all, but seriously…I'm warning you."

"What, Mr. Playboy can throw a punch?"

"I just want to see if she's OK. She's just a little kid, she needs her dad right now." Bruce said.

The nurse then walked out, "Dr. Owen, the little girl's asking for her father."

"Tell her that he's not here."

"I tried that already, she doesn't believe me." The nurse said.

"Well then, if she waits long enough then she will believe you." Owen said.

"Why are you doing this?" Bruce asked.

"Children deserve better parents than you, Wayne, you're nothing but a rich ass scum! Go back to your corporation and get drunk with skanky women, but stay away from children!"

"Listen, my daughter needs me, and you're not going to stand in my way. If you've dealt with any parents, you'd know that by now."

"Ah, but you're not like other parents…" Owen smirked.

"You're right, I'm better." Bruce smashed his fist into the doctor's nose. "Why don't you bandage that up while I go see my little girl?" Bruce growled and shoved the man aside. He then sprinted down the hall and into Jaime's room.

"See! I knew that he'd come!" Jaime exclaimed. "Dad!"

"Hey, kiddo!" Bruce softly smiled. "I can't stay long, OK? Some people don't want me near you, but don't worry."

"Why?" She held her arms out and gave him a hug as he sat at the foot of the bed.

"I don't know. They think I'm a bad daddy." Bruce whispered.

"But you're the best!" Jaime said.

"Thanks, chum."

"They're going to take me away from you, aren't they?" Jaime muttered after a thought. "But you're not going to let them, right?"

"I'll do my best. Now, I punched a doctor out there to get to you. Can you be a big girl and stay here while I go clean my mess up?"

"Yah, go get em' Dad." Jaime smiled and that lifted Bruce's spirits, but it did little to quell his fears.

He entered the hallway and walked up the doctor. "Sorry, you were in my way. I hope it isn't broken." Bruce apologized.

"I didn't expect a billionaire playboy to know how to throw a punch."

"I think you guessed wrong, is it OK?" Bruce asked again.

"It's fine," Owen curtly answered and pointed, "there's child services."

Bruce immediately felt his heart leap into his throat as his children were marched through the doors of the hospital. Luckily, the hospital was mainly empty with visitors tonight. "What's going on, Dad?" Tim demanded as he struggled to scramble into his father's embrace.

"It's OK, Timmy." Bruce soothed. "Don't worry."

Tim continued to struggle against the men's vice grip. "Let go of me!" Tim shouted as he attempted to bite the hands of one of the men.

"Let me explain, Mr. Wayne, we know that you've been abusing your children." Owen said. "When I was helping your daughter, I found multiple bruises and scars. Little girls don't get scars or bruises like that."

Bruce froze, there was no way he could explain how she got the bruises. One of the child services agents named, Kray said, "I can confirm that on this little guy here, the other two won't cooperate, but I bet they're the same."

"He never hurt me!" Tim exclaimed.

"It's OK to be afraid, he won't touch you anymore, son." Commissioner Gordon said.

"I'm not your son! I'm his!" Tim shrieked.

"We're going to take them away and you will go to trial in a few weeks." Gordon said as he gave Bruce a sympathetic look.

Bruce needed nothing but sympathy; he wanted to beat every one of the men in the room up so that he could get his children back. The scary thing was that he knew that he could take each and every one of them down. "NO!" Tim shrieked. "Dad!"

He could hear his son's cries, he could see the tear streaked face filled with fear, and yet he made no movement to quell those fears. Bruce was nailed to the ground, he couldn't breathe. He was lost and once again, he found himself unable to make a move…he was afraid. "Dad!" Tim shrieked.

"Timmy," Bruce swallowed, "it'll be OK..."

Kray struggled to hold the kicking and screaming boy. Suddenly, Jason smashed his elbow into the man behind him. Dick punched the man holding them. The two brothers began to take out the man, but they heard their father clear his throat and that snapped them back. The two men who were hit held their bloodied faces. Dick and Jason knew right away that Bruce didn't want them to give away their identities. "Oops," Dick and Jason muttered.

"Let's take them away, is the girl healthy enough to be moved?" Gordon asked.

"Yah, she is."

"OK, take them to the orphanage." Gordon ordered.

"Dad…" Dick met his father's gaze pleadingly.

Tim somehow managed to tear himself away from the men. He threw himself at his father. Bruce caught him in the air and furiously hugged him. He hadn't realized that the boy had gotten so big. "Don't let them take me away, please…I don't want to leave." Tim sobbed as a man walked up to take him away.

"Be strong, Timmy, I'll figure something out. I promise." Bruce whispered. "Now, go with these nice men. They only want what's best for you."

"No, I don't want to. It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, Timmy, promise me-- I need you to be strong, OK? For Jaime, Dick, and Jason." Bruce said and placed him down. "Chin up, wipe those tears, everything will be all right…"

"Promise?" Tim asked as he wiped away his tears.

Bruce swallowed and nodded, "Promise." They pinky swore and then Timmy reluctantly followed the child services.

Jason looked at his father, "Go get em' Chief," He gave his father a feeble grin and then turned out of the hospital.

Bruce didn't even get to say bye to his daughter, they were all gone and he was left with a smirking doctor. "Are you happy?" Bruce spat.

"Yes, child abuse is bad."

"I never hurt them. I would never hurt them." Bruce softly said. "And trust me, I'll get them back, no matter what it takes."

"Keep telling yourself that," Owen muttered, "cause' I'm the one fighting for their custody."

"You won't win." Bruce growled. "They're _my_ children. _I'm_ their father."

"Really, Bruce, should have thought about that before you bruised them, eh?" Owen turned away and it took all of Bruce's willpower to not grab the man and slam his fists into the man's face.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get them back, just watch." Bruce murmured.

"All the money in the world won't get them back, Wayne." Owen said as he disappeared from sight.

Bruce spun around and returned to his empty manor where Alfred and Damian were waiting for him. "Hey, guys…" Bruce managed to give them both a feeble smile, while inside, he was ready to cry.

"Master Bruce? Are you all right?" Alfred asked.

Bruce nodded, but when Damian whispered, "It'll be OK, Dad." It was enough to send Bruce's world crashing down. His children were gone and there was a possibility that he was never going to see them again.

"Why didn't they take you away too?" Bruce asked.

"Something about bloodlines, plus, I didn't have any bruises. I haven't been on patrol, but…yah…" Damian shrugged awkwardly.

"I'm turning in." Bruce whispered hollowly as he marched himself to his room and shut the door. Even though he was safe and alone in the confines of his room, he still did not allow himself to break and cry.

* * *

What do you guys think? DUN DUN DUN! Kind of a cliffy, lol, tell me what you all think!!!


	8. The Truth Beneath the Lies

Just because you're all such awesome people, I'm going to update super early! Plus, I don't feel like reading the Great Gatsby. lol. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy! Thanks to all who are reading this, I totally appreciate it, and you all ROCK! :D

Enjoy

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Chapter Eight

"Master Bruce? You're late…would you like me to notify your office?"

"Alfred, what would you do if you were me? What would you do?" Bruce demanded.

"Well, I'd notify the office." Alfred said.

"Alfred, please, about the kids. I-I don't know what to do." Bruce admitted. "I'm…lost…I'm scared."

Alfred sighed and placed a comforting hand on Bruce's shoulder like he did when the man was still a boy. "I can't tell you what to do, Master Bruce, you must do what you feel is right. You must do whatever you can and the outcome will be whatever it will be. Just do your best."

Bruce nodded, "I know, but what if it's not enough?"

"It will be, Master Bruce, it will be. Have faith and…be _strong_."

"Thanks, Alfred, now." Bruce grinned. "Could you notify my office that I'm not showing up for this week? I have some lawyers to interview."

"Of course, Sir, and I've already taken care of Damian. He's at school like he should be."

"Thanks, you're the best." Bruce smiled and began dialing up the best lawyers he knew.

Cassandra and Barbara searched for their boyfriends. If they weren't going to show up they would have notified their girlfriends. "Looking for someone?" Damian asked as he came up behind the girls.

"Oh my gosh, you scared me." Barbara breathed. "And yes, I'm looking for Dick, she's looking for Jason."

"They're not coming," Damian said flatly, "they took them away. Child services took them away because Bruce was apparently abusing them."

"Bruce wouldn't do that!" Barbara exclaimed.

"I know, that's why…I need both of your help. Bruce doesn't really know you guys, but you could help in the testimony." Damian said.

Cassandra narrowed her eyes, "Wait, why are you helping Bruce get them back? Don't you hate them or something?"

"Truth be told, I don't give a damn about them, but Bruce is falling apart. I don't know how much more of him can break until he shatters. He's my dad, if you haven't noticed." Damian grumbled. He just didn't want his father to mope around anymore, Damian was tired of Bruce not noticing him. He was tired of being in the shadows and not being the center of the man's life. He wanted to be an only child, but apparently, Bruce was more attached to his children than he let on.

"All right, we'll do it." Barbara said quickly. "I know Dick and Bruce sometimes don't get along, but Bruce is his father and I'm not going to let Dick lose another parent."

Cassandra eagerly nodded, "I'm in, tell me when and I'm there."

"Thanks." Damian gave them a wry smile and walked away. "Oh, by the way, you guys look hot. I'm sure my brothers would want me to tell you that."

Cassandra and Barbara shared a disgusted look, to think that they actually thought that he could have a good heart. "I doubt that they'd like you checking us out." Cassandra shot back.

"Hey, I'm just voicing my opinion. I mean, your jeans sooo hot on you, and I'm sure Jason would think the same. You wore those for him, didn't you?"

"No, actually, I wore them for the sake of wearing them." Cassandra said. "Go away."

"I was leaving." Damian said coldly. "Oh, if they never come back, which one of you would be willing to go out with me?"

"Um..." Barbara broke out into fits of laughter. "You're a little...I don't know...short?"

Damian's face immediately reddened, "I haven't had my growth spurt yet."

"Oh, I see, well we have and we only date guys that have gone through puberty." Cassandra giggled and walked away beside Barbara. The two girls had become friends quickly, definitely when Jason and Cass had to go see Barbara to tell her that Dick was suspended for a few days. The two found that they could relate and get along easily.

"Who does he think he is?" Barbara asked her friend as the two walked away.

Meanwhile, Bruce finally got a hold of one of the top lawyers in Gotham. "Mr. Wayne, if you want me to help you, you have to tell me the complete truth." Todd said. "I can't help you if there are any secrets."

Bruce nodded, "OK, well, I didn't abuse them! I would never hurt them, you need to understand this."

"Do you have anybody to back you up?"

"Yes, Damian, Alfred…"

"Anyone else?"

"Their girlfriends, probably, I mean, if they were abused, wouldn't they tell their girlfriends?" Bruce said after a thought.

"Yes, anyone else?"

"Perhaps…Diana Prince…and Clark Kent," Bruce said, naming out the girl of his dreams and the only colleague who knew his actual identity. "I think that they'd testimony on my behalf."

"Hm, Diana Prince and Clark Kent could be strong allies." Todd agreed. "Explain to me how all of your children got their bruises."

Bruce gathered his thoughts and concluded that he was still not going to reveal their identities to this man. Although he was an attorney, he was not to be trusted with their identities. "They play this lightsaber hockey game." Bruce said as he thought of the game that was banned in the Wayne household.

"What?"

"It's this game Dick and Jason made up, they get really, really banged up. It's like…hockey. Just they get to hit each other with the lightsabers and smash the puck anywhere they want, there are no rules. I tried to forbid it, but you know…boys are boys…they almost lost their teeth in one round." Bruce shook his head at the memory. "And their noses, nothing could stop them from playing it though."

"That doesn't explain Tim and Jaime."

"Yah, well, they joined in the game a little later, plus they skateboard and they fell all of the time. Dick and Jason go easy on the little guys, but the little guys don't go easy on each other. They also had a pretty harsh past. May I remind you, Jason and Jaime were abused children and Dick and Tim…well, Dick was an acrobatic, so he obviously has old scars from broken bones and such. I didn't take in perfect children, they're all pretty…messed up in more ways than one. But now, they're healed, people can't just take them away from me."

"Are there any medical files on their past injuries?"

"On Jason and Jaime's past, yes, but Dick? He was in a circus, so…no, obviously not." Bruce was surprised by how easily the lies came to him. "Tim, his past wasn't abusive or anything, it was much like mine in a way, it's just, he fell a lot, got beat up in the games he played with his siblings, and…yah. I mean, boys will be boys, plus, Jaime…she has only brothers, who else would she play with?"

"Explain how Damian has nothing."

"He just came to the family and he doesn't get along with his siblings really well. If he has any bruises, it's from the fights that he gets into with Jason and Tim. I mean, that's what kids do, they fight when they don't get along and I try to mediate that." Bruce said.

"OK, well, that explains everything." Todd gave Bruce a satisfied smile. "I'll do my best, Mr. Wayne, I know that you play around and all, but you would never hurt your children. I just… know it…"

Noticing the perplexed look in Bruce's eyes, Todd explained, "I see it in your eyes, Mr. Wayne, the way you talk about them. There's so much love and pride and pain, no one could fake that, not even the best actors. I'll get them back for you, I swear it."

"Thank you…" Bruce whispered, "thanks so much."

"Hey, no problemo, now, go talk to some of your friends about the trial and see if they can make it." Todd said.

"Yes," Bruce stood up to shake his attorney's hand, "good day."

"You too." Todd grinned.

"I miss Daddy." Jaime moaned.

"Me too." Tim agreed miserably.

Jason and Dick nodded in agreement. The four siblings huddled in a corner on the cold ground of the orphanage. It was more like a jail cell than an orphanage, but considering all of the other places around Gotham, the orphanage was pretty luxurious. "He'll get us out, no worries." Dick said confidently, despite his real worries. "He's Dad, he can do anything."

"Here, here." Jason agreed with false heartiness.

"I know, but what if…" Jaime whispered.

"No what ifs, Jay!" Dick said. "He'll do it…whatever it takes."

"He _did_ pinky promise!" Tim exclaimed as his hope rose.

"Exactly." Jason agreed. "There's nothing to worry about, besides, he never abused us."

Jaime then pointed at a white slip on the ground, "What's that?"

"What?" Tim asked.

Jason scrambled towards the note and unfolded it. "It says lightsaber hockey, signed, BM." Jason whispered. "What does that mean?"

"Aw, Jays, come on, don't tell me this place has already dampened your brain." Dick groaned. "That's how we got our bruises, idiot."

"Oh, right." Jason said as a smile began to spread across his face.

Dick snatched the slip of paper and ripped it in half. "Here, eat it." He handed it at Jason.

"Hells no!" Jason exclaimed. "Why? I'm not goin' hungry."

"I'll eat it." Jaime volunteered and took the other half from Dick's hand. Tim and Jaime knew exactly what Dick was implying. They had to get rid of any evidence of Bruce being around to give them information. Dick shoved the half slip of paper into his mouth and swallowed, Jaime did the same.

"Taste like chicken?" Jason asked.

"Yup." Jaime grinned.

"All right, guys, let's go to sleep." Dick suggested. "We should get some more rest, I have a feeling that we'll be facing those trials very soon."

The four siblings closed their eyes and snuggled close to each other. Despite the hard future that would soon come at them, they were not going to fall apart.

"Diana, I need your help." Bruce said as he paced in front of her.

"Bruce, please, relax."

"I'm trying." He answered gruffly and Diana was left to wonder where she heard that voice before.

He sighed, "OK, my children…"

"You have kids?"

"Yes, in fact, I have four sons and a daughter." Bruce quickly added. "Adopted, except one—and no, I was never married, I have no idea how it happened." Bruce babbled.

Diana, on the other hand, was not surprised that he had a biological son. It was a wonder that he didn't have a million considering all of the girls he'd dated. Little did she know that he rarely went past first base with any of them.

"OK, so…they've been taken away from me." Bruce raised his conflicting gaze at Diana and she could feel her heart being torn as she saw the pain that reflected in his eyes. "A doctor, he's accused me of…abusing them." Bruce spat the last word out with contempt. "He called child services and now…well…they're going to take them away from me. They already have, I need to get them back, Diana. I need you to help me."

"How?"

"Testify for me, tell them that I would never do that…please…" Bruce whispered. "I would never ever, in a million years even _think_ of hurting them."

"How'd they get bruised? Why would the doctor even think of accusing you?" Diana asked.

Bruce felt a pang when she didn't immediately agree with him, but of course she would have questions. She couldn't unconditionally trust a man that got 'drunk' all the time. "Well, they discovered bruises on Jaime when she had an allergic reaction to peanuts. And well, child services came and checked Tim and he had the bruises too." Bruce explained. "He's fighting for custody over them, Diana, I can't let him win. I just…know that…something bad will happen if he does. Something bad will happen if I don't get them soon."

Diana reached over and closed her hand over his. "I'd be honored to help you, Mr. Wayne."

"Thank you."

"But, how do you explain how they got their bruises?" Diana inquired.

Bruce froze at the question. He was unsure about revealing his identity to Diana. This was not how he had expected to reveal himself to her and he wasn't sure if this was the right time, but he needed her to trust him."Bruce?" Diana asked.

"Come with me," Bruce breathed, "I want to show you something." He took her hand and led her to his car.

"What's going on? Where are you taking me?" Diana felt fear creep into her.

"Don't worry, we're going to my place, I have to show you something." Bruce said.

"You do hurt them, don't you!?" Diana accused.

"…no…I would never…" Bruce took in a shaky breath as he pulled to a stop in front of the manor. "Trust me, please…"

Diana said nothing, but she continued to follow Bruce as he led her to an old grandfather clock. "I trust you, Diana, that's why I'm showing you this. You have to keep it a secret." Bruce said.

"I can't keep it a secret if you really abused them."

"For the fiftieth time! I'd never hurt them!" Bruce growled. "But this explains everything." With a soft grunt, the grandfather clock moved aside, leading to a secret passageway. "Follow me."

Diana gasped and immediately put herself on guard. If this man thought that he could kill her, then he thought wrong. She immediately felt ashamed of her thoughts as they reached the bottom steps. "Diana Prince…I'm the Batman." Bruce said softly, sweeping his eyes over her surprised features. "They're my sidekicks, that's how they get their bruises and scars."

"Oh my gosh, Batman?" Diana breathed, but she connected his familiar gruff voice to his dangerous growls. "You are, aren't you?" Snapping out of her surprised state, she threw her arms around Bruce. He stumbled backwards in surprise.

"Wasn't expecting that." He mumbled.

"Yah, well, you can't predict everything, Wayne." She said, her voice dripping with happiness. "I'll definitely testify for you. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, who would have known? I can't believe that you would actually tell me! Who else knows?" She smiled to herself, the two men who could make her heart beat a million times faster than its normal rate was the same man.

"Just Supes, but you know, he cheated with his x-ray vision." Bruce grumbled.

"Oh."

"I'm trying to move the trial to tomorrow, I need them by me, I have a bad feeling. Like…something's going to happen to them." Bruce said. "And trust me, my feelings are usually right."

"I trust you, Bruce….with everything." Diana smiled. The next move was unexpected for both of them, but somehow, Diana couldn't stop herself. She was in love. Her breathing quickened as her heart leapt out of its chest, she leaned in close to him expecting him to close the rest of the distance. Bruce immediately melted his lips against hers, he'd done this enough times to know how it worked, but the woman he was kissing was someone he truly, deeply cared about.

Tim shifted his position, shivering as the cold began seeping into his skin. Jaime's eyes peeped open as she felt her brother move. "Cold…" He whispered.

She nodded and turned to look at her older brothers. They seemed unfazed by the change in temperature. The older pair had fallen further apart from the younger pair and lied curled in their own spots. "It's dark…" Jaime whispered as her forehead creased in a slight frown. "Darker than usual."

Tim nodded in agreement and turned to tell Dick. He tapped his older brother on the arm. "Hey, Dick." When his brother made no movement to get up, Tim grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "He's not waking up." Tim told Jaime.

"Jason isn't either." She said frightfully. "Are they dead?"

"No, they're breathing, I think…they were drugged." Tim beckoned his sister to come closer to him. Whoever drugged to older two could still be around and Tim wanted his younger sister near, for comfort and for her protection.

"Who would do that?" Jaime asked as she quickly scooted closer to her older brother.

In the shadows, a figure emerged "Me."

"Oh my gosh." It took all of their willpower for them to not scream as the man stepped into their view. The man with the crazed smile and laugh that was not at all funny.

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What do you guys think? I doubt I'll be updating anymore this week, so enjoy and I hope it doesn't disappoint! :) Thanks guys!

It was **1000Greensun**'s idea that I make WonderWoman testify and that I put in more of Cass and WW. I tried to squezze them in. :D I'll try to add them more later on. If any of you guys have any suggestions for future chapters, I'd be happy to hear it! :D Once again, thanks a million to all of you who are reading this! You make my day...and night!


	9. The Pain

This has some action, pain, torture...yah...ENJOY! lol. Thanks to all who's reading!

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Chapter Nine

Bruce turned towards Diana, the woman who had been by his side ever since he had revealed his identity to her. A soft smile graced his lips, despite the fear and discomfort that was ripping at his soul. "The trial's today…"

"Yes, and you'll do fine, Bruce, don't worry." Diana ran her fingers through his thick black hair. "Damian has arranged the boys' girlfriends to come to trial, you've talked to Supes, and well…you also have me." Diana pressed her lips against his.

"Yes…I have you…but it's not the trial I'm worried about." Bruce murmured as his smile clouded over with a slight frown. "It's the kids, I wasn't able to visit them yesterday or the night before. They probably got the note, but…I just can't shake off this feeling."  
"Aw, the Bat is actually nervous."

"Yes," Bruce admitted, "but that's not it…"

"I know, you're worried about the kids, but you'll see them in a few hours."

"I know, but people don't check on them at the orphanage, it's like juvie or something." Bruce murmured. "But you're right, I'll be seeing them in a few hours. Besides, if something did happen to them, someone would notify me, right?"

"Yes, right." Diana nodded in agreement. "Now, let's head to the court, you're going to have to go through the media and paparazzi. It's best to be early, you know, it isn't a party where you could be fashionably late."

"Haha." Bruce dryly laughed.

Meanwhile, Tim and Jaime struggled against the binds. "Our dad'll come and get you and then you'll be sorry!" Jaime shouted.

Joker cackled, "I don't care, I put up with the old bat, do you think I'm scared of a helpless billionaire playboy?"

"Batman will come and kick your butt!" Jaime shouted again.

"Shut up! Batman will be too late, he will see two children die at my mercy and he will be of fault. I'm going to videotape every single thing I do to you." Joker cackled again. "And then I will send it to him and your father and they will see what I did to the poor children of the Wayne household. Besides, one of your brothers helped me get you. Suggested you two little brats, said that it'd be the easiest way…" Joker's expression turned serious, which was rare. "Now, who first?"

Joker looked disappointed, "Fine, no volunteer? Hm…I choose you!" He pointed at Jaime. "Miss loudmouth."

Jaime's eyes widened in pure fear as Joker grabbed her by the hair. "Hm, what first? What first?" Joker pondered on his thoughts. "Oooh, the wheel of pain!"

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, it's fun…for me!" Joker strapped Jaime onto a giant wheel, much like the wheel of fortune. "OK, here are the rules, I have darts, five of them and you will be spinning, I throw the darts and they'll land wherever they do." Joker said into the camera. "These darts aren't enough to kill, but enough to cause lots and lots of pain."

Jaime whimpered. "Now to begin! Listen to her screams, BRUCEY!" Joker clicked a button and the wheel began to spin to a circus song. Joker hopped from foot to foot laughing and then shouted, "Dart number one!" He threw it and it struck skin, the shriek that Jaime let out was bloodcurdling. "Number two!" It once again hit her, but she bit back her screams. "Ah, getting some defiance here, number three! Four! And Five!" Joker hit the button so that the wheel would stop spinning, revealing a blood splattered eight year old. "I'm sure your father will love this video."

Jaime's left wrist, left thigh, and right shoulder were hit. She was also hit near her neck, closer to the collarbone twice. Her tear streaked face was enough to reveal her pain. "I don't think you've had enough for one day." Joker laughed. "On with the next game!" He unstrapped her, yanked out the darts, and led her to another room.

Whimpering, Jaime shook her head and tried to pull out of his grasp. "Nuh, uh, uh, naughty, naughty." Joker brought his hand up and slapped her across the face. "Now, this is a game I like to call…tattoo. I will use a knife and carve my name into parts of your body and I will listen to you scream. You will not be sedated, so you will be in quite a lot of pain."

Joker pulled out a pocket knife after he made sure that she was securely strapped onto the operating table. "Ooh, hm, right wrist first." Joker pulled the knife out and began carving his name 3 inch deep into her skin. "J…O…K…E…R" He lifted her wrist up to the camera, showing off his hand work and the blood pouring from her newest open wound. "Daddy, help! Please!" She sobbed helplessly.

"Feeling helpless, old Brucey boy? Where else should I do this to her?" He flipped her onto her back and began carving his name there.

"Now, I think I'll give you some time to recover for the next torture segment, eh? Oh wait, one more thing."

Joker unstrapped Jaime from the table and placed her onto the ground. "You've been naughty."

"Huh?" Jaime's disoriented eyes gazed at him.

"Exactly." Joker pulled his fist back and punched her in the guts, kicked her, and gave her a beating. Not once did a scream escape from her as she lied on the ground bleeding. "Night, night." Joker threw Jaime back into the room with her brother. "Here Timmy, a first aid kit, do what you can for her."

Tim turned his sister over and could see only blood, a lot of it. He tried his best to tend to the ones he thought looked bad, but he couldn't do much. Most of her wounds required stitches, plus, Joker had given her quite a beating. "Jaime, are you OK? Get up." Tim whispered, pulling his sister upright. "Dad's going to come, don't worry."

As Bruce and Diana strode up to the courtroom, the commissioner greeted them with a grim face. "The trial's called off, Dick and Jason will be sent to live with Owen for now."

"What about Tim and Jaime?"

"They're missing, Wayne, they either ran away or someone took them." Gordon murmured. "We're sending out a search party for them, but…"

"It's Gotham, they're the children of a rich ass billionaire, do you really think that you can find them that easily?"

"I never said it was going to be easy, Mr. Wayne, and they are no longer your children." Gordon murmured. "I'm sorry."

"Find them." Bruce growled and spun away.

"Bruce." Diana called as she struggled to keep up with his pace.

"Someone has them both, we need to go to the watchtower. We need to get help."

"Your..."

"Doesn't matter, I need to find them, don't you understand? I don't care about the custody anymore. I don't care about anything! I just want them alive." Bruce exclaimed.

"OK, come on, I'll fly you home." Diana said and before the man could protest, Diana had him fifty feet in the air.

Bruce suited up and teleported up to the watchtower. "Guys, I need your help." He said, not wanting to waste time.

"What is it Batman?" J'onn asked.

"Well, two of my little bats have gone missing." Batman explained. "I need your help to find them, but first, you need to know who I am."

"Wow, we get to find out who you are." Flash said and began pacing. "Hurry up."

Batman unmasked himself. "I'm Bruce Wayne."

Flash's jaw dropped. "Show off!"

"Will you help me find my children? They're missing."

"Batgirl and Robin?" Green Lantern asked.

"Yes."

"Of course then! Let's go!" Green Lantern said.

Batman teleported them into the batcave. "You guys get started, I have to put on my Bruce Wayne persona and talk to the authorities about them. Here's what they look like, masks off."

"They're cute." Flash mused and then shouted, "We're so on it!"

"OK, we'll try to find them, Bruce, don't worry." Superman said and flew off with the rest of the league. Bruce and Diana sat in the mansion's living room, awaiting any news of the children.

"This is your new home." Owen smiled broadly. "I know it isn't as big as the Wayne manor, but it's still pretty huge. I'll show you to your rooms. They'll be across from each other."

"Thanks." Dick said politely.

Jason rolled his eyes, "We should be out there looking for Timmy and Jaime! Not being shown around this mansion."

"Jason Todd Fields."

"Fields?" Jason laughed. "That's worse than Wayne."

"Do not use that tone with me, young man. I am your father now and you will show me respect." Owen glowered.

"Yes, sir." Jason said sarcastically.

After casting Jason a warning glance, Owen led them to their rooms. "I'll leave you two to get settled. There will be refreshments downstairs in a few moments."

Jason tossed his sack of belongings on the strange bed that was now his. "Wow, this is my room. Doesn't even have my smell."

"That's an upside." Dick smirked.

"Shut up, Dickie."

"Yah, let's go down."

"Why?"

"Owen said that there's 'refreshments', I'm going to go with the fact that it's probably mandatory." Dick muttered.

"How can you be so chill?"

"About…"

"About Tim and Jaime being missing! About this whole thing!"

"Because, Jason, we need to have him trust us before we can make a move. So quit being an immature brat and adapt…the way Dad taught us." Dick whispered.

"Ooh, OK, let's go grab something to drink." Jason grinned and bounded down the stairs behind his brother. "Hey, O, what do we call you now that we're living with you?"

"Anything that you feel comfortable with, maybe…Doc', O', Owen, Sir, Dad, whatever."

"OK, cool, I like Doc, it sounds…cool." Jason mused. "So, what's there to drink?"

"Lemonade."

"Sweet!" Jason grabbed a cup and downed it in a gulp. "This tastes freaking awesome, don't you think so, Bro'?"

"Yah, could you tone down the chirpiness?" Dick groaned. "Jason does the happiness thing to get on my nerves." He said to Owen.

"I see." Owen nodded. "Listen, I know the transition's hard on you boys. Definitely with your attachment to Bruce, but…he was abusive and he neglected you, trust me, with me you'll be happier. I'll also try not to be so hard on you boys, I know you've had a hard life and may not have been taught the way you were supposed to."

"He never abused us." Jason growled. "We played a game called lightsaber hockey, we got really banged up. Yet no one could stop us from playing that game."

"OK, but he's still a playboy that doesn't have time for his children. He gets drunk a lot of the time."

Jason opened his mouth to object, but Dick intervened. "He didn't, but it doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done, I've learned that the hard way so let's get on with life."

"Young man, I like your attitude." Owen grinned.

"Kiss up." Jason muttered. "Anyway, any news on the little guys? You don't seem too worried."

"I am worried. A father is always worried about his children." Owen said.

"You hardly know them! You hardly know us!"

"That doesn't take any of the worry or love away." Owen said.

Jason rolled his eyes, "OK, if you say so. Can I explore the house a bit? You're right, it isn't as big my other house, but since I'm going to be living here, I want to know every corner."

Dick agreed, "Do you have a pool?"

"Yes, and a weight lifting room, game room…anything you want." Owen nodded.

The two boys shared an excited look, "Sweet!" Jason took off, "Race you to the weight room!"

"No running in the house!" Owen shouted.

Immediately, the boys felt a wave of homesickness. They wanted their father, their brother and their sister, and they even wanted Alfred! The old butler that always fussed over every scratch they got; the old butler who was like their grandfather.

"I'm so sick of waiting here. I'm going to suit up and find them myself."

"Bruce, you can't, the media's hounding you on the front door."

"Why don't they bother Owen? He's their father now." Bruce spat.

"They are, but they all know the truth."

"And what is that?" Bruce asked.

"You're their true father and you always will be." Diana smiled. "Oh, before I forget, I found this package on your front porch."

"The media didn't catch that?"

"No, not yet." Diana shook her head.

Bruce was about to open it when Diana stopped him. "It could be a bomb."

"It's not." Bruce said surely. "Too light, it's a videotape." Bruce said as he pulled it out of the package.

"Oh my god." Diana called the rest of the league back. They all met in the batcave where Bruce prepared to put the video in.

"Bruce, you don't have to watch this. We could just…watch it for you…" Superman offered.

"No, I might get an idea of where they are and who has them." Bruce said.

"OK."

Bruce's finger shakily hit the play button and immediately, the cave was filled with maniacal laughter. Bruce's heart clenched as the name flitted through his mind—Joker.

Bruce's fists clenched at his sides as he watched his bloodied daughter scream and cry. His heart twisted in pain at ever shriek. He had never felt so helpless in his life. "Damn it, he's going to kill her!" Bruce growled.

Everyone could hear the dangerous edge in Bruce's voice, but no one could miss the twinge of fear. Bruce Wayne was terrified that his children were going to die. He heard her scream for him, he could hear her begging him to take away the pain. He swore to protect her; she was his daughter after all. Yet now all he could do was watch and pray that she would be all right.

"Bruce, Bruce, are you all right?" Diana demanded.

"OH, what, yes, I'm fine."

"Any idea where they are?" Superman asked.

"I can tell that they're in some underground area, but I'm not sure…" Bruce trailed off. "They're still in Gotham…"

"Get some rest, Bruce, I know how hard this must be for you. Um…at least he hasn't done anything to Timmy yet." Superman swallowed.

"_Yet_." Bruce strode purposefully back up to the manor and sat there as he struggled to remember where he'd seen that place before.

While Bruce was watching the first video, Joker danced to the children's cell to prepare the second. "So, Timmy, is your sister OK?"

"What'd you do to her?" He demanded, his voice coming out as a childlike squeak rather than strong and defiant.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Joker grinned, "nothing, compared to what I'm about to do to you." He then started laughing as he grabbed Timothy Drake and strapped him down on an operating table. He switched the camera on, "Hello, Brucey! Lookey who I have here! I'll take it that you've already watched the other video, well prepare to watch this!"

"No! No! No! DAD!!!!" Tim shrieked.

* * *

What will happen to them? Dun dun duN! lol, not much of a cliffie, but yah...hope you liked it!


	10. Hypocrisy Ain't the Way

CHAPPPPTTTTEEER TEN! THanks for all who've read, you guys are all awesome!!!

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Chapter Ten

"_Dad!!!"_ Bruce jerked up from the couch and wiped away the beads of perspiration forming on his forehead. He hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep, but the nightmare was enough to keep him awake for a lifetime.

"You OK?" Diana asked as she walked into the living room.

"I'm fine." Bruce replied gruffly.

"Worried?"

"What do you think?"

"Hey, we're all worried. If you need anything…you know the whole league and I have your back, right?" Diana said.

"I know…any leads?"

"Not yet." Diana shook her head.

"I know this city best, I should be out there looking for them."

"You know that's ridiculous, only when we have a lead then you can get out and we'll be able to stall for you. But with the media banging on your door ever half hour, there's no way…"

"I know, I know, but you don't understand the helplessness I feel. My children are _dying_ Diana, I feel it, I know it…and I can't do anything at all to help them." Bruce lifted his tormented eyes at Diana and immediately her heart flew out to him. She had never noticed that his eyes could hold so much emotion, so much pain, and so much love.

"They're going to be fine." Diana said firmly.

"Bring me the video, I need to watch it a few more times." Bruce ordered.

"Bruce…you shouldn't…"

"Yes, it hurts when I watch it. When I watch him slowly kill my little girl, torturing her, beating her. Damn it, Diana, do you think I don't know!? She's eight years old, and she's going to be scarred for life! I think I can handle watching this video if Timmy and her can handle being held captive by the Joker."

"Very well, here." Diana murmured. "I'll go help the league look some more."

"Call me if you find anything." Bruce said and then gazed at her. "I didn't mean to snap at you…I'm just frustrated…"

"I know, Bruce, I know."

Owen pushed the boys' doors open. It was noon and neither of them had stirred from their beds. "Dick? Get up, lunchtime." He received a groan and a pillow in his direction.

"Seriously, get up, Buddy." Owen said.

Dick rolled his eyes and pushed himself out of bed. "Good man." Owen murmured and headed to Jason's room.

He pulled the door open and to his surprise, he found the boy missing. "Dick Grayson Fields! Where is Jason?" Owen demanded.

The older boy shrugged as he padded out of the bathroom. "How should I know?" He murmured with his mouth full of toothpaste. "And will you quit adding the Fields to the name, sheesh! Jason was right, it sounds terrible!"

"Young man, where is your brother?" Owen began losing his patience.

"You have a short temper." Dick muttered. "He probably got hungry, relax."

"You're sure?"

"No, this is Jason you're talking about, he does things randomly." Dick rolled his eyes as if his new guardian was supposed to know that.

"I see, I'll go look for him. Breakfast is on the table for you." Owen said.

Damian stumbled down the stairs and could see his father intently watching a video. "What's that, Dad?"

"What—oh, it's nothing." Bruce turned off the TV. "Breakfast?" He forced a smile at his son.

"Sure, Alfred cooked?"

"Nah, just cereal this morning." Bruce placed a hand on his son's shoulder and led him to the kitchen table.

"What were you watching?"

"…a video…" Bruce paused, "from Joker."

Damian immediately choked on his cereal. "What!?"

"Yah…man, I wish Dick or Jason were here, they'd somewhat recognize the place. I'm pretty sure one of them has been there."

"Hey, I'll watch it, see if I recognize anything." Damian said.

Bruce nodded and the father and son ate their breakfast in silence. Neither of them were in a rush to do anything. Bruce sighed and pushed his chair back. "Well, I'll wait for you in the living room."

"All right…" Damian nodded as he refilled his bowl with corn flakes.

Bruce rubbed his face wearily. He had a midnight shade and bags under his eyes. He hit the play button, but muted the volume. He couldn't stand hearing the sounds of his children's screams and Joker's hysterical, twisted laughter. "So…why the long face, old man?" A familiar teasing voice came from the corner of the room.

Bruce immediately became alert and scanned the room with his eyes. "I'd think you'd find me by now." The voice teased.

The figure moved from the corner of the room. "Jason?" Bruce said incredulously. He grappled his son in a hug. "Jason!"

"Whoa, easy there old man, you're going to break all of my bones."

"What are you doing here?" Bruce demanded.

"Giving you a hand, what do you think? By the looks of it, you need all the help you can get."

"You ran away from home!?"  
"No, I _came_ home." Jason said. "What are you watching?"

"Son, no." Bruce tried to stop the boy before he turned around.

"Oh, god!" Jason stumbled backwards. "She's gonna die if we don't find her!"

"I know, chum, any idea where she is?"

"Underground circus?" Jason suggested. "He is a clown."

"Hm, maybe, but you better get back…" Bruce glanced remorsefully at his son. "We already have our hands full, we don't need me being charged of kidnapping too. Anyway, how'd you slip past the media?"

"Hey, Bat training comes in handy, Pop. Haha." Jason grinned. "Nah, I went through the cave. J'onn was there, but he didn't stop me. He thought you'd need some cheering up."

"Yah, you cheered me up all right. I've never felt better this whole week." Bruce admitted. "Now, get back to your…Dad." Bruce cringed.

"Hey, you're my dad, now to forever." Jason smiled. "That fool? Did you know his last name's Fields? My gosh and he keeps calling me one too! I mean nothing against the name or anything, it's just…I ain't a FIELD!!! I'm a Todd…and a Wayne. Down to the heart, baby!"

Bruce couldn't help but smile at his son's attitude. "Get out of here, Jays, I'll try to get you home once I get the little guys back."

"You better."

"I will." Bruce said firmly. "Stay safe and out of trouble.

"Tell Alfred I said hi, I even miss him fussing over my wrinkled shirt!" Jason laughed.

"Tell Dick I said hi too." Bruce said and then pulled his son in another hug.

"Whoa there Papa Bat, when have you been so touchy feely?"

"When I lost my kids." Bruce growled back. "I'll see you later."

"Yah, toodles!" Jason said. "Check underground circuses!"

"I will." Bruce felt another smile grace his lips.

In the background, Damian stared at his father. Bruce had not yet shown that much warmth towards the newest member of the family. Sure, he said good night, patted him on the shoulder and such. He also stuck up for him and accepted him into the family without any hesitation, but the one thing that Damian felt was missing was…love. Yes, Bruce loved him, but Bruce's love for him was less than all of the others and Damian couldn't understand why. He w_as_ his father's blood child, after all.

"Tell me, Timothy Drake…how would you like becoming my newest toy?" Joker cackled.

"Well, if you want to know the truth…not so much." Tim spat.

"Harlequin, Sweetheart?" Joker called.

"Yes Smookums?" Harley smiled.

"I found the perfect little boy…how do you feel about…becoming a _mother_."

"Oh! That would be the best thing in the world!" Harley threw her arms around the Joker. "Will this boy become J Junior?"

"Yes, we could call him…JJ." Joker grinned. "Do you like him?" He threw a crazed look at the struggling boy before him.

"Hm…I think he could use a makeover." Harley said.

"I agree." Joker stepped closer to Tim. "Timmy…I want to say…welcome to the family, son. Or you will be once I'm done with you."

"No, get away from me!" Tim tried to kick the clown before him.

"Nuh uh uh, naughty, naughty." Joker wagged a finger at Tim. "Hey, Brucey! Say good bye to your little boy, because when I'm done with him…let's just say…you won't recognize him anymore…Oh, I'm sorry if you're disappointed about this video. It's a lot less gory. Ta ta!" Joker glanced at Harley and made a wagging motion with his finger.

"Huh?"

"Cut! I said CUT!" Joker shrieked and the video went dead. He then handed the video to one of his clowns. "Drop it off, please. Oh, leave a note saying that this will be the last time he'll ever see his children again."

Owen stormed around his house as he searched for the younger boy. "JASON!" He thundered.

Dick slouched in a chair at the kitchen table as he stirred the oatmeal around. If his brother wasn't going to show up soon then Owen would notify the authorities and Bruce would get into more trouble. Not only that, Dick was sure that Owen would blow a casket if he didn't find Jason. Luckily, the house was pretty large and there were many rooms to search. "Psst, Dick! Where is he?" Jason hissed.

"West wing, say that you were in the laundry room, it's the only one I know that's in the West Wing that he hasn't checked yet." Dick said. "Sit down."

Jason pulled the kitchen chair and sat across his brother. "Joker has them, Bro'." Jason whispered. "He has them both."

Dick stared at his brother with wide eyes. "How do you know?"

"Dad was watching a video…Joker sent him a video of him torturing Jaime…" Jason trailed off. "She didn't look too good. He still doesn't know where he's hiding and with all of the media at his door, there's no way he could…get away and look."

"JASON!" Owen called again.

"In here!" Jason hollered and shared a worried glance with his brother. "Dad's also a big mess, by the way, but he says hi."

Dick nodded and began spooning some oatmeal in his mouth. "How can you eat that!?" Jason demanded, making him sound as disgusted as possible.

"See, lil' bro', you gotta put it on a spoon and put it in your mouth. It's not that hard."

Owen strode up to Jason and jerked him out of his seat. "Ow!" Jason frowned as he stumbled forward.

"Young man, where were you?"

"I was roaming around the house." Jason shrugged as he tried to make himself sound dismissive.

"Why didn't you answer me?"

"Uh, O', if you haven't noticed, your house is really big. I can't hear you if you're in another section of the house." Jason murmured. "But, if you want me to, I'll tell you every time I enter a different portion of the house."

"You better not be lying."

"Chillax, man, I'm not. You need to like…take a breather or something. Did you know that popping pills and stuff really helps you relax? Not that I've done any of that stuff or anything, but like…when I was younger, my parents smoked weed and shit. You could totally do that." Jason made himself sound like a teenage punk. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Dick roll his eyes and smile.

"Listen, Jason, you—" Owen was cut off by the ring of a doorbell.

His front porch was filled with news reporters. "Mr. Fields!"

"Doctor!"

"Excuse me, sir!"  
"Whoa…" Jason breathed. "Why are they all here all of a sudden?"

"How do you feel about your missing daughter and son?" A woman asked.

"Well…like all parents. This is a nightmare and I'm praying to god that I can have them back." Owen answered.

"They've been gone for almost a week, do you still think that they're alive?"

"Of course, like every parent, I'm not going to lose hope. They are my children and I will get them back. It kills me everyday not having them by me." Owen answered as Jason snorted.

"But, sir, isn't it true that you just got them in your custody? They went missing before they even set foot in this home."

"Yes, but I'm they're father now and even if I don't know them as well as Wayne, I still feel the pain, surely more than him anyway." Owen said.

The camera swiveled over to Dick and Jason. "How does it feel, to have lost your parents at a young age and then be taken away from the man that took you in and now losing your brother and sister?" A man asked.

The two brothers froze. Bruce would've dismissed the reporter by now. He would've never let it come to this. Dick snapped back first. "Um…it was tragic losing our parents, but Bruce took us in and he's a good man. He's...he's the best father anyone could ask for, even if he's a bit…rough around the edges."

"But Owen is your father now, is he not?"

Dick glanced at the doctor. "Owen is…a good man too, but Bruce is and always will be our father."

Immediately, Owen dismissed the cameras. "That's enough." He shut the doors. "What are you two thinking!?" He demanded.

"Um, you don't seem to have noticed but Bruce is like…our savior and you took us away from him. He never abused us, he only loved us." Jason growled. "I think all you want is fame and that you're jealous of Bruce Wayne because he's the big hot playboy that all the girls want. And he's the big guy on TV, on the media, on everything! And you're not."

"Enough!" Owen roared as he raised his hand to strike Jason across the cheek.

The force of the blow sent the unsuspecting boy flying to the ground. Owen glared down at Jason as he held his burning cheek. "You're a fucking hypocrite. You accuse Bruce of abusing us, but you just…hurt me."

"You were being disrespectful." Owen said coolly. "By the way, I don't appreciate the language. If you'll please, I'll be addressing the media. You boys go run along."

"Fuck you!" Jason shouted as he rose to attack the older man.

Dick grabbed Jason's shoulder. "Jays…"

"He hit me!"

"I know." Dick threw an angry glare at Owen. "But hurting him won't do us any good."  
"No, only killing him will." Jason muttered.

Owen bent down and jerked Jason up onto his feet. "You will respect me, Jason Todd Fields…"

Jason spat at the man's face. It was a mistake. Owen was stronger than either of them had expected. His fist slammed into Jason's gut and then he grabbed the boy and threw him into a wall. "This isn't abuse, Jason, this is discipline." Owen said as he lifted the boy off the ground.

Dick grabbed one of Owen's arms, causing Jason to fall to the ground again. "Enough, you're hurting him." Dick said forcefully as Jason lied on the ground moaning.

"Who do you think you are, Richard? Challenging me?"

Dick anticipated the blow beforehand and blocked it. "You're messing with the wrong kid." Dick murmured and threw a kick at Owen's ankle.

"Aggh!" The man immediately grabbed his ankle. As he bent down, Dick smashed his knee into the man's nose. He then hit a pressure point which rendered the man unconscious.

"Oops, we'll be leaving now, excuse us." Dick grabbed Jason's arm and led him out the backdoor. "What's wrong, Jays? Did he hit you hard?"

"That Doc is pounds and pounds of muscle, and I'm not kidding. He's almost as strong as Bruce." Jason groaned. "Took me by surprise too, shit, I think I dislocated my knee."

"It's OK, we're going home now…" Dick said.

* * *

So...hope that didn't disappoint after the wait. :) WEEKEND'S here, thank god!!!!! lol


	11. Never Let Go

I'm back with chapter eleven!!! Read, review, and enjoy!!!

Chapter Eleven

Bruce watched the news where Owen let his sons answer the reporters' questions. The man didn't even protect them from unnecessary pain. A rustle in the kitchen sent Bruce springing back on his feet. "Dad!"

Bruce raced in the kitchen and found Damian tackling a clown. "He took the back door, he has a tape."

Bruce grabbed the man and sat him down on a chair. "Joker sent you, where is he?"

"I ain't tellin' you nothin'." The clown said.

Bruce sighed and slammed his fist into the clown's face. "Get some rope, Damian, we should tie him up. We're taking him to the cave." Bruce said and then glanced at his son. "Good job, your training's paying off."

"OK, thanks Dad."

The two shared a smile and Damian felt a moment of satisfaction as he noticed the pride in his father's eyes. The moment was short lived; however, his father's eyes flickered outside as two figures made their way down a hill. "Damian, get him in the cave." Bruce ordered as he threw the back door open and raced towards his sons. He had promised to always be there for them, it was a promise he intended to keep.

"Dad!" Dick exclaimed as he saw his father run towards them.

"What happened?" Bruce demanded as soon as he saw Jason's beat up figure. He immediately supported his son

"Owen hurt him. I left him back there unconscious. There's nothing you can do that'll make us go back there." Dick stared at his father, daring him to object.

"Do you think I'm crazy, Dick? I'm not going to send my two sons to a place where a man hurt them!" Bruce gave Dick a pointed look and then grinned at the irony of his words. "I want you to watch a video, see if you recognize it. It's gruesome." Alfred met Bruce at the backdoor. "The media's asking for you again. Tsk, tsk, Master Jason, and I thought you wouldn't get hurt now that you weren't fighting alongside the Batman." Alfred sighed and began fussing over Jason.

"And I thought you wouldn't fuss over me now that I wasn't fighting alongside the Batman." Jason grinned. "I missed you, Al."

Alfred fought to keep himself from smiling, but the corners of his lips quirked into a smal smile. "Dick, go to the cave, J'onn is in there. He'll show you the video, I'll be down there after I deal with the media." Bruce sighed. "I actually prefer dealing with psychopathic villains if you can believe it."

Dick made his way down to the cave as his father headed outdoors. The media immediately flashed their cameras at Bruce. "Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne!" The reporters shouted.

"Um…I'm sorry, I can't deal with this right now. I'm busy." Bruce said flatly, meeting the camera with a pointed glare. He then turned around and slammed the door in the media's face. "Master Bruce, that was quite rude." Alfred scolded and then half smiled at the man before him. "But I must applaud, that was bravo. Very straight forward." Alfred then turned his attention back to Jason.

"You all right, kid?" Bruce glanced at his son.

"Yah, I'll live…but I know two who may not. Get down in the cave while you can, Pops." Jason smirked.

"All right." Bruce headed down where he was greeted with the justice league and Nightwing. "Dick? What—"

"I know where it is, Dad, and you can't stop me. Let's go."

"Where is it?"

"The circus where…we did our act in Gotham, where you know...." Dick shrugged. "Anyway, I stumbled across it by accident, the underground part that day. No one knew about it, but I recognize it. You comin' Bats?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Bruce said grimly as he grabbed his costume. "I can't believe I missed that though."

"Eh, you never saw it, you wouldn't know." Dick shrugged. "Hurry, we watched the latest video. Damian brought it down here. Joker looks like he's going to do something pretty bad to Tim."

Bruce immediately suited up and joined the league. "What are we waiting for? Let's fly." He smirked at Diana. "You carry me and Lantern or Superman can carry Dick." Superman and Flash shared a surprised glance. There was something seriously wrong with the Batman.

"Deal," Diana grasped Bruce's arm and took off with the rest of the league closely behind them. She knew that the man wasn't as heartless as he wanted the league to believe.

The leaguers took off to the circus where the two children were held captive. Dick's heart began pounding out of his chest as he neared the circus of his parents' deaths. "You all right?" Batman asked.

"Yah, fine, this way." Nightwing led Batman to a secret doorway that led downstairs. They could hear the crazy circus music that Joker loved. They both walked down when Superman spoke into their comm. "Turn right, Batman, they should be over there. Get in, get out, don't get tangled with Joker."

"I'll do whatever I want." Batman growled as he turned right.

A sign was taped on the door, _Been waiting for you, Batsy! _Batman stiffened and motioned his son to stay behind him. "Secure the building," Batman ordered, "be sure that he doesn't get away."

Batman cautiously pushed the door open as he heard crazed laughter and soft moaning. "Joke's over, Joker, hand the kids over!" Batman shouted as he spotted his bloodied daughter in a corner. He moved forward towards his daughter, his paternal thoughts taking over his rational thoughts.

"My toys!" Joker exclaimed, pulling out a pistol.

Batman spotted Joker a second too late. "NO!" He roared as he leapt towards his daughter. Two shots rang out.

Nightwing began to make his way towards Joker, but the clown had disappeared. "Batman, Joker's gone!" He exclaimed. "Batman?" He turned around and saw his father crouched over a broken figure.

"Jaime, wake up, kiddo, I'm here now." Batman said softly. "Come on, let me see those big brown eyes."

Superman flew in, "I can't find him, he's disappeared."

"He was prepared." Batman muttered. "He knew we were coming…I don't know how, but he knew. Any sign of Timmy?"

"No, nothing at all." Flash muttered. After a few moments, the rest of the superheroes saw the fragile figure of the child. "We have to get her to a hospital." Before Bruce could protest, Flash grabbed the girl and sped her of towards the hospital.

"Batman, let's go." Diana flew him home. "There'll be news of your daughter found, you'll be wanted by the media."

"Yeah." Batman unsuited and strode purposefully up to the living room. "Car, let's go boys. I'm driving."

"Sir, is everything all right? You're bleeding, your leg."

"Oh…" Bruce murmured distractedly, "there's no time, Alfred, I have to go."

Alfred forced Bruce to sit down and quickly bandaged the wound as Jason bounded down the stairs. "Did you find them?" Jason demanded.

"I found one, but I don't know if she'll be OK." Bruce answered stonily.

Alfred was immediately worried by the way Bruce acted. He was dejected and cold like he had been when his parents died. Alfred was afraid about the outcome of what was going to happen if Jaime and Tim didn't pull through. Would Bruce blame himself for their deaths too?

"Master Bruce! Slow down!" Alfred ordered as Bruce pulled out of the garage and almost ran over a few reporters.

"Well, I want to see my daughter and I'll run over every one of these bastards if I have to!" Bruce growled. "They should know better than to get in my way."

Bruce pulled into the hospital parking lot and jerked the car to a stop. Without even waiting for his family, he leapt out of the car and headed into the hospital. He'd been here a little too often for his taste. "Bruce Wayne, I'm Jaime's father. How's she doing?"

"She's in an operating room having surgery right now. That's all the information I can enclose to you."

"Wait, what!?"

"You're not her father—he is." The nurse nodded in Owen's direction. The man had a bruise forming on his nose.

"Oh." Bruce growled and then headed into the waiting room.

Owen glared at Bruce, "_You_…I don't want you anywhere near my daughter."

"I believe it's quite the opposite, Doctor. I don't want you anywhere near _my_ daughter." Bruce met Owen's glare with equal stubbornness.

"Well, you'll be in jail for kidnapping anyway."

"And you'll be in jail for actual abuse!" Bruce retorted and then smirked. "Nice bruise."

The comment earned him another cold glare from the doctor. Soon, Dick, Jason, Damian, and Alfred entered the hospital. "Dad! Is she OK!?" Dick and Jason demanded.

Both Owen and Bruce spun around, "I don't know." Bruce admitted.

"I'm their father, I'll answer the question." Owen growled.

"Hell no, Dr. Whacko!" Jason exclaimed. "Bruce is our dad and you're just a nut that should get shipped off into Arkham!"

"Jason, I agree he's a little on the nutty side, but let's tone down the name calling." Bruce sighed, but immediately sharpened his senses as Commissioner Gordon entered the hospital.

"I heard that they found Jaime." Gordon said.

"Yes, and they won't give me any information on her well being." Bruce glared at a nurse.

"Bruce…" Gordon sighed and glanced furtively at Owen, "come here." Gordon grasped Bruce's arm and pulled him aside. "I'm going to arrest Owen."

"Why?"

"Because I know…" The older man gazed in Bruce's eyes, the piercing blue eyes that terrified Gotham's criminals.

"About what?"

Gordon leaned in and whispered so softly that only the sharpest ears could have caught what he said. "Batman."

Bruce tensed and pulled back tersely. Now was not the time to discuss how the commissioner found out. "He hurt Dick and Jason." Bruce said.

"Yes, I'll file some reports and tweak some stuff. They're your children, you've been through enough." Gordon said.

"Thank you, so…much…" Bruce lifted his gaze to meet the commissioner's and immediately, the commissioner knew that the man before him was truly thankful.

Gordon nodded tersely, "Go to your family, they need you."

Bruce strode towards his sons and whispered, "I got you back."

"Dad…you never lost us…" Dick smiled and pulled his father into a hug.

The family watched as Gordon arrested Owen and escorted him out of the hospital. "One obstacle down, another to go." Bruce murmured. "I'm going to see if I can get any info out of the nurse about Jaime's condition. You boys go sit in the waiting room with Alfred."

Dick, Jason, Damian, and Alfred filed into the waiting room and sat for the news of their sister. Soon, they were joined by, Clark Kent, Wally West, John Stewart, Shayera Hol, Diana Prince, and J'onn. "How is she?" Clark asked.

"We don't know." Dick replied.

"How's Bruce?" Diana asked.

"He's hanging in there." Dick replied again. "You should go see him, he's talking to some nurses."

"OK." Diana made her way towards Bruce Wayne. "Mr. Wayne."

Bruce spun around, his wary face immediately lighting up. "Ms. Prince!"

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his upper body. "How is she doing?"

"She's still in surgery, barely holding on…" Bruce replied hoarsely.

"She'll be fine, she's a strong girl, just like her old man."

Bruce nodded as his arms returned Diana's embrace. He held her there as he felt her against him. For a moment, he felt as if there were no problems; it was just him and her. Bruce tightened his hold on her as their breathing remained synchronized. She was keeping him together; she was holding him so that he would not fall apart. "Did you find Tim?" Bruce asked.

"No sign of him yet, I'm sure he'll be fine too."

"Joker's a sick clown, there—" Bruce swallowed. "You saw what he did to Jaime. She was so weak, vulnerable, so…fragile."

"Yes, but she's still fighting. Don't give up, Bruce, and neither will they." Diana whispered. "Come on, let's go sit down. All we can do now is wait and hope."

"That's the worst part, knowing that I can't help her." Bruce said, his eyes begging her to take away the pain. It tore at Diana to see the man before her so helpless. Although he was trying to be impassive and stony, his eyes gave all of his emotions away.

"I know, Bruce, I know." Diana nodded. "But be strong, your boys need you…" _I need you_, Diana silently added.

Bruce released Diana from their embrace and then made his way towards his sons. He shook his head, answering their questions. Jaime was still fighting for her life. The eight year old was barely holding on and the family that had already faced so much pain, was bracing themselves to face some more.

Bruce sat down between Dick and Jason as his hands squeezed their shoulders comfortingly. "She'll be fine."

"I'm sorry." Dick whispered as he glanced at his father.

"For what?"

"I was too slow. I didn't see—I couldn't prevent him from shooting you two. I couldn't catch him. Jaime's going to die because of me." Dick's voice broke as he tried to hold back his tears.

"No, chum, it wasn't your fault. None of this is your fault, and Jaime's not going to die. She's _not_." Bruce pulled Dick into a one armed hug and hooked his other arm around Jason. "She'll be fine." He whispered, to comfort both them and him. "She will be fine."

The league watched as the family interacted. They could see Bruce teetering on the edge of a cliff; he was ready to break apart. Yet, they had never seen this side of him. He was always cold and detached when he wore the batsuit, but now…he was comforting people.

After two hours, the two boys fell asleep with their heads lolled against their father's shoulders. Bruce fought to remain awake. "Mr. Wayne?" A doctor strode down the hall with a grim and impassive face that could not be read.

"Doctor!" Bruce shot up as he feared the worst.

"Calm down, Mr. Wayne."

"How is she?" Bruce demanded. "Is she OK?" Dick and Jason stirred in their chairs as the watched the conversation at hand, praying that their sister survived. She had to be alive. She couldn't die, she couldn't leave them...could she?

:) Fin. That's the end of this chapter, sooooo what do you guys think? I want some opinion, good or bad. :D Thanks to all who's been reading and I hope you all enjoyed this one.


	12. Out of the Woods

Special thanks to all who've read and reviewed! Here's the next chapter, not too much, hopefully next chapter will be better. Anyway, read, enjoy, and review!

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Chapter Twelve

"Doctor Leslie, how is she?" Bruce demanded.

"Mr. Wayne—Bruce, she had malnourishment for a few weeks, almost every part of her was bruised, not to mention practically shattered ribs, a couple of the bones almost punctured her lungs, minor concussion, a bullet to the hip, blood loss, and many infections from her cuts that required stitches…"

"What are you saying?" Bruce asked as he felt his heart drop to the deepest pit of his stomach.

"Things aren't looking good…"

"You mean she's not dead yet?" Bruce asked as he felt some hope rise.

"No, she's a fighter, that's for sure. We thought we lost her a few times. She's kind of stable for now, but…we're going to have to take her in for another surgery. We've taken out the bullet and most of the bones that were going into her lungs, but we still have to try to fix up her ribs and try to get rid of the infections. Right now we're giving her blood and she's in the ICU."

"How do you get rid of infections through surgery? Why would you have to? Can't you give her meds?"

"No, the infections need to be scraped out. They've spread too far, but not so far that they can't be stopped. Worst comes to worst, we'll amputate."

"Amputate!?" Bruce exclaimed. "She's eight!"

"Worst comes to worst, that is if she even survives." Leslie shook her head. "I'm sorry, Bruce, I don't know how much more she can take. Like you said, she's eight. This is huge, even if she survives this, she might not recover from the trauma."

"Is she awake?"

"No."

"She's not in a coma, is she?"

"No, she isn't, she's just tired and we did give her some meds for the pain so that adds to the drowsiness." Leslie said. "Go see her, Bruce. She's alive right now, that's all you need to know."

Bruce nodded and motioned for his sons and Alfred to follow him. In his dazed state, he didn't even notice that Damian hadn't followed. _Beep, Beep, Beep_, Bruce swallowed as he entered the room, afraid of what he might see. Fortunately, she didn't look that bad other than a few scars on her arms and a bruised head. The other parts of her body were covered by a blanket to keep her warm. His breath hitched as he noticed how lifeless and pale she looked. The young girl used to be filled with so much life and joy despite the hardships she had faced. What would this do to her?

Dick and Jason stood silently behind their father, waiting for him to continue moving forward. Bruce stepped beside the bed and collapsed in a seat beside it as his hand tentatively reached forward to grasp her small hand. He remained quiet as he gazed into his daughter's face.

"You're right, Dad, she'll be fine." Jason said, offering his father some comfort. "She's a strong kid."

Bruce nodded and whispered, "Hey, Jaime, can you hear me?"

"She's been sedated, Dad." Dick said.

"I know, but…she should know that she's not alone." Bruce explained as he glanced at Dick.

"Agreed, hey Jaime, it's your big bro' Dick." Dick said with false cheeriness.

"And Jason." Jason added. "Oh, Alfred too, you know, good ol' Al…" After a thought, Jason added, "good ol' Grandpa Al." At that comment, Alfred almost beamed.

"Me too, Dad's right here." Bruce said softly. "Right here…pull through this OK, Jaime? Don't leave us."

"We need you." Dick said.

"Aye aye," Jason said with a slight grin.

"I must agree with the young masters, life without you is like life without…sugar…"

Despite the dark cloud that was wrapped around the family, Dick and Jason burst into fits of laughter at Alfred's comment. Even Bruce couldn't help but smile. Bruce gripped his daughter's hand tightly. "Pull through this, kiddo. We need—" Before Bruce could finish his sentence, the monitor began to beep erratically. "Jaime!" Bruce exclaimed as he was shoved out of the way.

"We need to operate now." Leslie said. "Prep her for surgery in OR 2. NOW!"

"What's wrong? What's happening?" Bruce asked as he stumbled out of the way.

"Her heart's being put under too much stress with the blood loss, infections…I can't describe it all to you. Her heart's just…not taking it, we need to do surgery." Leslie left the room and entered an OR room.

"Damn it." Bruce muttered.

"I think she heard us, she'll pull through." Dick said.

"We can only hope." Bruce whispered as he collapsed back in the seat.

"No, we have to believe." Dick said and sat beside his father.

Bruce nodded wearily as the family sat together in silence. Clark slightly frowned as he glanced at Damian. The boy was brooding in the corner of the waiting room. "Hey, Damian, you all right?" Clark asked.

"I'm fine." He answered curtly, while his devilish mind continued to think.

"Shouldn't you be in there with your family?"

"They don't need me, I bet they haven't even noticed that I'm not there."

"That's not true, they do need you. They might not have noticed because they're all in pain." Clark explained. "Why don't you go to them?"

"Leave me alone, Kent." Damian spat as he shifted in his seat.

Clark's frown deepened. Bruce's children called him Uncle Clark, and none of them were that bratty. John poked Clark to stop him from interrogating the boy. Diana decided to see if Jaime was OK. She left the league and trekked down the hospital's hallways. "Bruce?" She poked her head in to see an empty gurney and the family struggling to hold on.

Bruce looked up and forced a smile in Diana's direction. "Hi."

"What happened? I thought—"

"She got taken in for surgery." Bruce explained.

Diana nodded and turned away to leave. "S'cuse me." Bruce stood up and left the room. "Diana…"

She turned around and met him with a warm hug. "You don't look too good."

"I'm—" He swallowed his pride and murmured, "scared."

"I know, Bruce. Is she going to be OK?"

"I really don't know. I want to believe that she will be. There's so little hope and the boys are—they've been through so much already, they don't need this." Bruce murmured.

"I know." Diana reached up and caressed Bruce's cheek. "Mr. Wayne, I believe that she will be fine. I also believe that your family needs you right now."

"Well, Ms. Prince, I'll go back to them." Bruce released her, but before she could walk away, he grabbed her hand and spun her around. He pulled her against him and pressed his lips against hers. "I couldn't resist." He gave her a half-hearted smile that was still as charming as ever.

"Always with the playboy façade." Diana rolled her eyes. "I know you too well."

"Mr. Wayne?" Leslie approached Bruce.

"Yes?" Bruce faced the doctor.

"Jaime, she—she's," Leslie's face broke into a relieved smile, "she looks like she's going to be fine. She's stable and she'll be awake in a few moments."

"Thank you, Doctor." Bruce grinned. "She's out of the woods?"

"She should be fine. A few months of healing and she'll be fine."

Bruce shared a glance with Diana and rushed into his daughter's room. Dick and Jason were grinning ear to ear when they saw their father. "Did you hear, Dad? She's going to be OK!" Jason grinned.

"Yeah," Bruce smiled at his sons, "she is." He strode over to her bedside and sat down, taking her hand into his.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, John stood up, "I'm gonna go see her, come on guys. I think Bruce is pretty close to losing it. Let's go."

"OK." The rest of the members stood up and walked in.

The whole league without their disguises stood behind the Wayne family, leaving Damian alone in the waiting room. Bruce didn't look up, only when he felt something stir did he look up from the ground. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"For what, sweetheart?" Bruce asked, his thumb stroking the back of her slender hand.

She slowly turned her head towards him and opened her eyes, "For not being able to save him, my fault—"

"Oh, no, no, it's not your fault." Bruce softly said. "Nothing is your fault."

"He's…gone…" Jaime whispered as tears began to leak from her eyes. "Gone…"

"He's not dead, Jaime, we just haven't found him."

"I know, Dad, he's not dead." Jaime murmured as her eyes began to close again. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I couldn't grab him. I couldn't—"

Bruce wanted to gather her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be all right, but all he could do was hold her hand and soothe her. "No, chum, not your fault." Bruce croaked, on the verge of tears.

"My fault…" She murmured again before drifting into a fitful sleep.

Dick and Jason began crying in fear that they would never see their little brother again. Bruce made no move to coax or shush them, instead, he covered his eyes with one hand as his shoulders violently shook. For a few moments, no one said a word until Bruce regained his composure. When he removed his hand, his face looked impassive, but his eyes were a storm of emotions. "Alfred," Bruce said, his voice strong again, "please, um…get the rooms ready at the mansion for them, they'll be staying with us tonight."

"Yes, Master Bruce." Alfred bowed out of the room.

"Bruce, we'll just stay here tonight." Diana insisted.

He turned to face his colleagues. "You guys have done enough for me, please, just allow me to return the favor and just stay over at the manor. It'll be more comfortable than the hospital, trust me."

"Bruce…"

"Please." He looked at them, his eyes pleading.

"OK." Clark reluctantly agreed and the rest of the leaguers nodded with him.

"She's stable." A nurse came in and said to Bruce. "It's good, in a few days she'll be able to come home. But she'll be needing a lot of physical therapy."

Bruce nodded numbly.

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Yah, not too happy with this chapter, but it leads to the next so yah... :) Hope it didn't disappoint, drop off some reviews and tell me what you think, what I should do, what I can improve, you know... :D Have an awesome day!


	13. Home Sweet Home

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Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, I visited my grandparents and now I have to study for finals. PS, Dad doesn't know I'm on this site right now, so don't tell him. He thinks I'm studying, for finals, which I should be. :P

Thanks everyone who have read this, owe you big time! lol, you're my inspiration. I also apologize for this chapter cause' it might seem a little rushed and choppy. Didn't really get to proofread, bear with me. As always, read, enjoy, review!

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Chapter Thirteen

A few weeks later, Jaime was released from the hospital; almost every part of her was bandaged. "Come here, baby." Bruce lifted her up and held her against him, hugging her tightly. "I missed you, I'm so glad you're OK."

Jaime nodded and hugged him back, her tears wetting his neck. He carried her to the car so that she could see her brothers. "Hey Jaime! Welcome back!" Dick said with false cheeriness.

She nodded again and didn't say another word. "Come give your big bros a hug!" Jason said. She scooted over and gave them a hug, again, not saying a word.

Dick shared a worried glance with his father. "Are you OK, shorty?" Dick asked.

Jaime nodded. "Wow, no smart comments to that?" Dick sarcastically said.

She shrugged and turned to look out the window. When they reached the manor, Bruce opened the door and carried her out. He didn't want to make her walk, or rather, he wanted to be close to her, to protect her from any harm. "Hey, you know what, chum? GL and Uncle Clark and the rest of the league are in there." Bruce smiled at her.

Jaime turned and locked her arms around her father's neck, burying her face into the crook of his neck. "What's wrong, kiddo?"

She shook her head and latched her fingers onto the collar of his shirt. He carried her into their home, with his sons trailing behind them. The whole league was sitting in the living room. "Hey! There's the little bat!" John greeted, with a sad smile.

"Say hi, Jay." Bruce whispered.

She shook her head and kept her face buried in the crook of his neck. "She's tired." Bruce apologized. "I'm going to take her upstairs."

The league nodded worriedly. Dick and Jason sadly trailed in behind and took a seat in the living room. "She's not talking." Dick muttered as he turned on the TV.

Bruce carried his daughter up the stairs and sat down on the bed. "Jaime? Come on, let go."

Jaime shook her head. "What's wrong, kiddo?" Bruce asked.

Again, she shook her head as tears spilled from her eyes and soaked into his shirt. "Hey, sh…it's OK now, we're home. You're safe, that's all that matters." Bruce rocked her back and forth, coaxing her until she calmed down and fell asleep. Her death grip on his shirt still didn't slacken, even in sleep. He peeled her fingers off and tucked her in. She moaned and whimpered, curling into a ball as she slept.

Bruce sat by her side, refusing to leave her. He looked down at the bruised innocent face and could feel his heart twist with hatred. He tucked a strand of hair that fell into her face away as she slept and sat there with a sigh. "Hey, Bruce, we're having dinner, wanna come down?" Wally asked.

"I wanna stay with her until she wakes up." Bruce said.

"OK, I'll eat as fast as I can, then I'll come up and watch her for you."

A glare from Bruce sent Wally running down as fast as he could to the dining room. Soon, Jaime stirred and looked at her father. "Jaime?"

"Daddy…" Jaime trailed off and began to cry again.

Bruce immediately gathered her into his arms and held her as she sobbed. "Sh…"

"I'm…so…sorry…he helped me…I couldn't….blood…a lot…"

"I know, I know, it's not your fault…" Bruce whispered. "It's OK, baby, everything's OK."

"Everything hurts."

"I know…"

"One of them told Joker to do it…one of them helped him…" Jaime whispered.

"One of who?"

"My brothers." Jaime muttered, hiccupping with tears. "I'm scared, I'm scared. I keep seeing him…"

"You're safe, I'm here, nothing will hurt you. I promise." Bruce said.

"But one of them will hurt me." Jaime whispered. "He will…"

"I'll find out, OK?" Bruce comforted. "Let's say hi to everyone, can you do that? Eat too."

Jaime nodded. "Good girl, come on." Bruce held her safely in his arms as he carried her down the stairs.

"Hi, everybody." Jaime gave a short wave and a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Her damp eyes and face told everyone that she'd been crying. "Hey kid!" Wally sped around the room and landed in front of her. "What's up?"

"Leave the kid alone Wally!" Shayera ordered and threw a slice of bread at his head.

"Missed me." He sidestepped and the bread went smack into Jaime's face.

For a moment, everyone froze, trying to gauge her reaction. Jaime removed the bread from her face with a small mischievous smile and caught Wally off guard by throwing it at his face. "Very sly, kid, just like your old man." Wally laughed and sped back to his seat.

"Do you have room for two more people?" Bruce asked, finding a seat beside Dick"Of course, our two favorite bats." John grinned, scooting over.

"You gotta let go of me, come on, sit down." Bruce softly muttered, trying to place her on a seat beside Dick. She shook her head and whispered, "One of them."

"Come on, sis', don't you want to sit next to me?" Dick jokingly said.

Bruce shot his son a hidden glare and suggested, "How bout' next to your ol' Uncle John?"

She shrugged at the suggestion and reluctantly let go of her father. "Atta girl." Bruce muttered.

"Sweet, I'm Uncle John now." John smiled at her and gently tousled her hair, careful not to hit any of her wounds.

Jaime picked at her mashed potatoes while everyone finished up their dinner. "Are you going to eat that?" Wally asked for the fiftieth time.

"She doesn't have a choice." Bruce said, his bat growl on, he hated showing his colleagues his soft side. "She hasn't eaten a thing."

Jaime glumly spooned the food into her mouth, shoving them all in at once. "Done." She mumbled with her mouth full.

"Can you swallow?"

"Mm…hm…" Jaime nodded and took a big gulp, the mashed potatoes slid down her throat. "Yum…" She murmured.

"All right…dessert!" Wally beamed as Alfred brought out a giant apple pie.

"It is Miss Jaime's favorite." He whipped out a bottle of whipped cream. "I even got you a little surprise."

Jaime smiled and nodded her thanks. "I'm not hungry."

"You barely ate." Bruce pointed out.

"Not hungry." Jaime repeated.

Bruce sighed and nodded, "Fine."

After dinner, everyone cleaned themselves up and watched a movie in the living room. It was a family comedy about a road trip. Everyone had their laugh, but it didn't rid the worry they were feeling. Jaime barely said a word, and if anyone knew her, she never stopped talking. Soon the little girl fell asleep, her head nodding off onto her father's shoulder. "The munchkin's asleep." John said warmly.

"Yah," Bruce agreed, he didn't bother trying to keep the warmth out of his voice. There wasn't a point denying that he had a heart, his children healed his broken soul and his colleagues knew that too. Bruce scooped her into his arms and her fingers automatically latched onto his shirt. "Bedtime, chum." His voice an affectionate, soft, growl.

"Mm…kay…" Jaime sleepily mumbled.

Bruce carried her upstairs into her room, followed by the rest of the justice league, who waited for Bruce outside of her room. "Hey, you're in here, night sweetheart." Bruce whispered as he pulled her hands off of his shirt.

"Don't leave…" Jaime frowned in her sleep.

"I won't, I'm going to be right here in a moment, I promise." Bruce murmured.

"Kay…" Jaime's face relaxed. "Love you Dad…" She sighed and rolled over.

Bruce paused for a moment, staring at his daughter, he didn't want to show his soft side, but his daughter deserved to feel loved after all that she had been through. "Yah, kiddo, love you too." He gave her a pat on the head as he turned out the door.

His colleagues surveyed him silently, viewing him as if they've never met him before. They always respected him, but now, as they got to know him more as a person, their respect grew. "Yah?" Bruce raised his brows at them.

"We're worried, bout' Jaime." Clark muttered.

"Who isn't?" Bruce's attitude went back to being cool and reserved.

Clark sighed. "OK, guys, she's pretty banged up…scared…but…she'll be able bounce back up with time, I know it. She did it before." Bruce said firmly. "Right now we need to find Tim, according to the video and what Jaime's been muttering, he's not dead."

"He's turning Timmy into his son, Bruce, you saw the video." Clark said.

"We need to track them down."

"How? He leaves no traces, he hasn't been terrorizing Gotham ever since we got Jaime back. He's basically disappeared." John said.

"No one disappears, I need to get back in the suit and start cracking him down. You guys don't mind being here, do you?"

"No, you basically have the watchtower here so it's all good. The problem is that we're going to have to wait, Bruce. Joker will return, just not yet." Clark said.

"Waiting might be too late."

"You might already be too late. Your daughter needs you more than ever, you can't jump around Gotham. Dick, Jason, and Damian will patrol Gotham and if they need help then they can call us. We'll be around the world, but J'onn will always be here and we'll always be coming back." Clark said. "Listen, Bruce, sometimes it's better to wait."

"No, there's something else. Jaime thinks that one of her brothers did it. She thinks that one of them plotted with the Joker to get rid of them two. It makes sense because that's the only way that Joker could have been ready for us." Bruce said.  
"Damian." The whole league murmured.

Bruce immediately shook his head, "I don't know if she considers him a brother. He's just beginning to join the fall into the family."

"You think it's Dick or Jason? That's a little hard to believe, sorry, Bruce." Clark shook his head.

"It is hard to believe. Maybe I should wait until she's more lucid." Bruce shrugged. "I want to go look for him tonight."

"Go to your daughter, Bruce."

"Tim…"

"Bruce, Tim isn't here right now, Jaime is." Clark nodded towards the slumbering figure inside the room. "She needs you."

"I know she does, I need you to contact Commissioner Gordon ask him to keep a look out for Joker and start sending out people to find him." Bruce ordered.

"Your identity will be…"

"He knows I'm Batman. It was obvious for a smart man like him. My children make up the whole batclan and once the kids were taken away there were only me and Damian. After that, Batman was nowhere, but the justice league was in Gotham. I made it too obvious." Bruce growled.

Clark was about to say something more when soft sobs caught his ears. Bruce turned around and then glanced at Clark. "I'll do it, Bruce, go."

"Thanks, guys." He then went into his daughter's room and whispered, "It's OK sweet child, I'm here tonight." She held her arms out and Bruce pulled her against him as he climbed onto her bed. With her resting on his lap against his chest, he wrapped a blanket around them both as he gently coaxed her to sleep.

"Hahahahaha, you're a chip off the old block my boy!" Joker cackled.

"Haha, bam bam, haha, funny." Timmy laughed.

"Um, Puddin', he seems a little dull on the brain." Harley surveyed her new son cautiously.

"Oh, Sweetums, he's perfect! He's obedient and he's absolutely perfect!" Joker cackled. "He looks a bit like us too, you can hardly tell that he used to be a Wayne! Come give your old man a hug!"

Tim strode over and buzzed Joker with his hands that had zappers on them. "Oh yes, he's exactly like me!" Joker laughed as he rubbed his sore arms. "JJ, it's bed time, tomorrow will be the return of Joker! I'll return with a big…BANG! What do you think, JJ?"

Tim answered with some more giggling. "I'll introduce you to the city too!" Joker smiled. "The bang will be a celebration for us. Like a birthday party with lots of fire!"

"Let's go, J Junior, Mommy will tuck you in." Harley reached out to take her new son's hand when she felt something zap her. "Very sly kid, very funny." She pouted and removed the zapper. "Come on." She gently tugged him into his new room.

Gordon sat across from Owen, his brows furrowing. "I don't understand why you would accuse Bruce of abusing his children and then take them away to abuse them some more."

Owen pursed his lips into a thin line. "Are you hiding something, Owen? Are you in league with someone?" Gordon demanded. "Tell me!"

"It doesn't matter, you found Jaime and it's too late for Timmy. So just…give it up Gordon, you and the Bats failed." Owen growled.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that all your questions will be answered tomorrow night." Owen muttered with a familiar smile.

"Jim," Harvey Calloway called, "someone's here to see you."

"Excuse me," Gordon pushed his chair back and exited.

"Batman says to send out men to look for Joker." Superman said.

"Oh, wow, Superman. Sure, but I'm interrogating someone who might know what Joker's planning. Tomorrow night, will Batman be there?" Gordon asked.

"Maybe."

"OK, tell him, Owen might know something." Gordon said as he returned to the room.

The doctor smirked and began cackling. "Was that the Bats? Cause' you should warn him, Joker's going to be back with a nasty surprise!" The man began guffawing with laughter.

Gordon slammed his hand onto the desk and shouted, "Tell me what the Joker is planning!"

"OK…" Owen said in between chuckles, "it will…happen…haha…in Gotham…and it will be…your worst…haha…nightmare…"

Jim Gordon pulled back with disgust and strode out of the room. "I want him locked up in Arkham."

"Why?" Harvey asked while munching on a donut.

"He's crazy…" Jim glanced behind him and murmured, "I want a DNA test on him…"

"Right on it, Sir." Harvey went in to withdraw blood.

Jim walked into his office where he was greeted with another caped crusader. "Gordon."

He gasped in surprise, "You scared me." He muttered and thought, _just like your old man._

"Any information?" Nightwing asked.

"I think…Owen might be the Joker's brother."

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lol, lots of mistakes in this chapter. Anyway, tell me your likes and dislikes and give me a grammar lesson if you want to. :D Anyway, see you until next time! And thanks for bearing with me and reading! I'll try to update as soon as I can, though I can make no promises because next week is finals week. AAAAH!!!! I hate school...and math.


	14. Fear of Losing You

All right, CHAPTER FOURTEEN! Sorry for the long wait guys, finals was a pain, but it's all over now! WHOO HOO! lol, anyway, read, review, and ENJOY! It may seem kinda choppy, I just finished it right now, so forgive me. Oh, this chapter literally moves super quick. Anyway, thanks to all who've been reading and I'll stop babbling so that you can read.

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Chapter Fourteen

Bruce stretched his sore limbs as he felt an ache in his chest. It was an emptiness that he could not describe. Swallowing, the young man stared down at his daughter. She had a hard time sleeping last night, Alfred had to come and give her some pills to sedate her for a while. Bruce sighed and attempted to pry her hands from his shirt. "No…Daddy…" She moaned.

"Sh…Sweetheart, I'm just leaving for a little while. OK? I need to talk to Dick." Bruce muttered.

She frowned and shook her head, "I want to come."

"How about, Alfred comes in here to sit with you?" Bruce suggested as he motioned for the old butler to come in.

She hesitated before agreeing. "Good girl, I'll be right back." Bruce said, darting out of the door.

"Hey, Dad," Dick greeted wearily, his mouth filled with toothpaste.

"How was last night?"

"Oh," Dick shrugged, "calm, I was going to report but you were asleep with Jay."

"Anything important?"

Dick held up a finger as he nodded. He rinsed his mouth before answering his father, "Well, I found out that Owen might be Joker's bro bro. It kind of makes sense."

"Nothing positive, hard core?"

"Well, according to what Gordon told me. Joker's got something big planned for tonight. You should…suit up tonight." Dick shrugged. "I know that Jaime's been having some problems, but…" Dick hesitated as he furtively glanced at the ground.

"What is it, Dick?"

When Dick looked at his father, there were tears in his eyes, "I just want my little brother back, Dad…I just want him back…" He whispered as his voice began to break.

"Dick…" Bruce pulled his oldest son against him, "we'll get him back, I swear it."

Sniffling, Dick pulled away and nodded as he tried to regain his composure. He was becoming so much like his father. "OK, I'm gonna eat some grub. Jays and Damian are already down there." Dick gave his father a small smile before departing down the stairs.

Superman was already flying around the city with the rest of the league as they scoured for anything suspicious. _Nothing_. It was getting dark and Bruce prepared to suit up when Jaime's little hands grabbed onto his shirt. "Jaime, I have to go." He sighed before looking at her.

When he glanced at her, there were no tears in her eyes, only acceptance. "I know, Daddy." She murmured. "Find him, OK? Bring him home where he belongs."

At those words, Bruce gave his daughter a sad smile. "I'll do my best, Darling." He leaned down and gave her a hug, holding her a little longer than necessary.

"Be careful."

"I will, Kiddo, try not to be too much trouble on Alfred, OK?"

She nodded as her hand reached to take the faithful butler's; the man who was like her grandfather. "To the batcave?" She asked as she looked at him.

"Of course, Miss Jaime," He nodded as the two headed down to join J'onn.

Batman landed on the rooftop and appeared behind Gordon. "Any news?"

"My gosh!" He started as he spun around. "You always do that, one day you're going to give me a heart attack."

Batman allowed himself to quirk a smile in the commissioner's direction. "No, Batman, no news. But I found out that Owen is not Joker's brother, but is in fact, his cousin." In a low voice, Jim Gordon added, "He knows, Bruce."

"About me?"

Jim grimly nodded. "And that's why everything happened."

"So because of me, my whole family's being put through all this pain." Batman growled.

"No, because Joker is crazy."

In the distance, a flash of light appeared in the night sky. "I think that's—" Jim began to say, but of course, Batman was already gone.

With his three sons piled in the batmobile, Batman sped off in the direction of the explosion. "If anything happens, I want you three gone." Bruce ordered. "I want you to go back to the cave, got it?"

After a few minutes of glaring in their direction, the three boys relented and agreed. Batman parked the batmobile in an alley before sprinting off into the direction they were headed, his sons following closely at his heels. "Dad, left, left, left!" Jaime shouted as J'onn handed her the mic.

"OK, OK, OK!" Batman breathed as he veered to the left. And there they were, a family of three laughing maniacally.

Joker and Harley stood beside the newest member of their family, Tim Drake Wayne, better known as J Junior. Joker had rigged the bridge with bombs as he began making his speech. "This is the Joker's return! The day none of you shall ever forget!" He cackled. "I welcome the newest clown of the family, Joker Junior! Hit it JJ!"

Batman sprinted past the cars, dodging them as they frantically tried to get off the bridge. "NO!" Batman ordered. "Tim!"

"Ah, good ol' Bats, I thought you'd go into retirement." Joker smirked as his eyes bored into Bruce's knowingly.

"Hand the kid over, _now!"_ Batman ordered in a low, dangerous growl.

"Nuh uh uh, I'm his Daddy now. I'll protect him…" He let the sentence hang, his unspoken words entering Batman's mind. _I'll protect him unlike you._

Batman said, "Hey, Tim, it's me. Don't push that button."

"Bam, bam!" The boy cackled.

The dark knight swallowed as he struggled to remain calm, "Yes, bam bam, but we don't want that."

"Come on, _Son_, push it!" Joker ordered.

Tim laughed as his finger hit the button. "No." Batman said coldly, but it was too late. Sparrow and Batboy began to monitor the evacuation of the bridge with the help of Superman and the rest of the league before the bridge could blow.

Joker grabbed his wife and new son as they jumped on their motor boat. "Ta ta, Batsy! You're such a pathetic fool!"

"Batman, I got them." Nightwing said as he prepared to dive in after them.

"Nightwing! No!" Batman roared as he saw a gun appear in the Joker's hand.

It seemed as the time slowed as he sprinted to tackle his son, but it was too late. Two shots rang out as they hit their mark with two soft thuds. Batman could feel his heart get caught in his throat as he dove to catch his wounded son. The chestplates did nothing to stop the bullets from hitting Nightwing's chest. "Dick…" He whispered so softly that he could hardly hear his voice.

The boy moaned before slipping into unconsciousness. "Damn it!" Batman cursed as he lifted his son and sprinted off the bridge as he felt it rocking beneath him. The mission was getting too personal, he was losing his focus.

"Batman! Nighwing!" Sparrow exclaimed as he saw his father cradling his older brother. "Is he OK?"

"Hospital, now! We got to get him to Leslie." Batman grumbled as he felt his world crashing around him.

"I got him." Flash grabbed the boy and sprinted away.

Batman stood alone for a moment, completely dazed. His children were all hurt because of him; first Jaime, then Tim, and now Dick. Who was going to be next? "It's not your fault, Batman." Wonder Woman murmured as she finished saving the rest of the civilians.

He shook his head bitterly and hit the button for his Batmobile. "Let's go boys," He said as he leapt into the driver's seat.

The shaken up boys hopped into their seats. For a moment, there was only silence between them as fear entered their every being. Dick could not die. He couldn't! "Master Bruce," Alfred said through the communication.

"Alfred."

"What's going on, Miss Jaime's terrified that you're all dead." Alfred said.

"Tell her that we're…all OK." He lied; his daughter didn't need any more worry or pain.

"Yes, Sir."

Batman strode in from the back of the hospital and opened the door. "Is he going to be OK?"

"A punctured lung and one of his heart arteries were hit, luckily it wasn't super major. He's stable for now." Leslie sighed wearily. "Don't you ever consider getting bulletproof vests?"

"It was supposed to be bulletproof, but he was too close and the bullet was stronger than expected. It's OK, he's not going to be working anymore." Batman muttered.

Leslie reached over to grasp Bruce's hand, "It's not your fault, Bruce. I know you're beating yourself up over this, but it's OK. Your son's a fighter and we've gotten him stabilized. Would you like me to move him to the cave?"

"Will it—hurt him?" Batman asked.

"He's sedated, come on, I have a van. We'll keep him on the gurney and the meds. Your cave is like a hospital anyway." She said with a slight smirk. "Come on, help me."

Batman nodded as he helped the older woman push the gurney into the van. "I'll see you in the cave."

Batman headed back to the batmobile where his jittery sons waited for the dreaded news. "How is he, Dad?" Sparrow demanded.

"He's stable." Batman said curtly and sped home.

The three masked heroes entered the cave where they were greeted by a worried eight year old. "Daddy!" Jaime leapt into her father's arms where he grabbed her and hugged her tightly, careful of not hitting any of her wounds.

"Hiya, Chum," He quirked a small smile in her direction as she began removing his mask.

Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Bruce glanced around for a seat in the cave, "Listen, Dick got hurt, OK?"

"What do you mean? He's gonna be OK, right?" She asked.

Bruce paused before nodding, "Yes, he will be, but he's gonna be really tired and weak like you were in the hospital. Remember?"

"Oh," Jaime's voice got really quiet as she listened to her father explain what had happened.

"But we'll find Timmy, we'll get him back." Batman said. "Superman almost has the Joker."

"OK," She whispered as her fingers continued to stay latched on her father's breastplate.

Bruce did nothing. He held her until she fell asleep in his arms, and still, he cradled her against him as he sat beside Dick. At 5AM, Superman reported that he threw Joker and Harley in Arkham after they attempted to blow up 3 other buildings. "I have Tim, Bruce, do you want me to bring him home?"

"Of course!" Bruce exclaimed as he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

"O...K..." Superman said hesitantly, as if he was unsure if that was the best idea. "Um, Bruce....a lot of people want him in Arkham too."

"What!?"

"Dad?" Dick stirred groggily. "What happened?"

"Hey, Superman, just take him home, we'll discuss this later." Bruce said as he cut the communication, he then glared at his son and growled, "You got shot. You should've listened to me. I told you to not do anything, to just leave if there was any trouble and you disobeyed me."

"I'm sorry, Dad…"

"Do you have any idea of what you put your family through!?" Bruce demanded. "Jaime, Jason, and Damian don't need to lose a brother."

Dick turned to stare at his father. He would've been angry if he hadn't seen the fear and worry reflecting in Bruce's eyes. "I'm sorry, Dad."

Bruce stared at his son and then muttered, "From now on, you're no longer Nightwing." He turned to face Jason and Damian, "And you two are done too. No more Sparrow, Batboy, Batgirl, or _Robin_."

"Dad!" They all exclaimed.

"No," Bruce's voice hardened, "I don't want any of you getting hurt because of this. You will have a normal life from now on. I forbid you from ever putting the suit on again."

"I'm sorry, I should've never put any of you through this anyway." Bruce muttered as he made his way out of the cave with Jaime's slumbering figure in his arms.

"Dad," The boys called from behind him.

Bruce would hear none of it. He strode up the stairs and slammed the grandfather clock behind him. "What the hell got into him!?" Jason demanded.

Dick turned to face his brother and whispered hoarsely, "He's scared, Jays…he's actually scared."

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I know, I know, this chapter moved insanely quickly and I'm really sorry for the long wait and super short chapter. I'm not proud of this chapter, but I hope you guys still continue reading. I promise that I'll make the next chapter much better. All right, a bundle of thanks for all of the people who've been reading!

Enjoy your day!


	15. Defeat

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Hey guys! I just want to say a big thanks to all you faithful readers :). Chapter fifteen his up and though it's a bit slow and angsty, I hope you enjoy it! Read, Review, and ENJOY!

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Chapter Fifteen

After deftly tucking his daughter into her bed, Bruce made his way into the living room where Superman greeted him with his unconscious son. Tim was hardly recognizable. The lively face was now chalky, his black hair was green, and his clothes were the spitting image of the Joker's. Ignoring the tremor that snaked down his spine, Bruce stepped closer to his son. "I knocked him unconscious cause' well, you know why…Anyway, I'll be in the batcave with everyone else." Superman said in a soft voice.

Bruce nodded as knelt beside the couch. His hand tentatively reached forward to grasp his son's cold hands. "I'm sorry, Timmy. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you or anyone else. I was too caught up…" A sob was caught in Bruce's throat. "I'm so sorry, Son…I couldn't—it seems as if I can never protect the people I care about most. If you can hear me, please forgive me…._please._"

Superman flew down into the batcave where he surprisingly heard angry voices shouting at each other. "What's going on down here?" He demanded.

The three boys spun their heads around; as if afraid that it was their father coming down to reprimand them. "Nothing." Jason snapped.

"Doesn't sound like nothing." Superman folded his arms over his broad chest and stood before them. "What's going on?"

"Dad wants us to hang up our capes." Dick blurted. "He wants us to stop crime fighting."

"You know why, don't you?" Clark removed his Superman costume and transformed into their 'Uncle'.

"Yes, the almighty Batman is scared." Jason rolled his eyes. "He's being stupid. I'd be happy if he was scared for once, but no, he decides to kick us out of our roles as his partners."

Clark sighed as he stared at the three boys before him. They had no idea that their father tortured himself every time one of them got hurt. They had no idea that he suffered every time he failed to protect them, nor' would they believe him if he pointed it out to them.

Damian murmured, "He's being selfish."

Dick and Jason immediately agreed with their newest brother. Clark remained silent as he continued to gaze at them. "Dick, can you walk?"

"What?"

"Can you get up? I know you took to bullets to the chest." Clark said.

Dick shook his head. "I can't."

Clark strode over and lifted Dick and the IV stand with him. "What are you doing, Uncle Clark?" Dick coldly asked.

"Showing you something you should see, now hush." Clark ordered before motioning for the other two boys to follow him.

He gently pushed the grandfather clock aside before leading the boys to the doorway of the living room. There, Bruce was crouched over Tim, his shoulders shaking with held back sobs. "I'm sorry, Timmy, I'm so sorry." They heard him whisper as he began to gather his son into his arms. "I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how I can help you. I don't know what I'm going to tell your brothers and sister."

His hands tried to wipe off the powdered face, but it remained unmoving. The boy was to remain a miniature Joker forever. The sustained sobs gradually increased as he incoherently whispered his failures to his son. Slowly, Bruce's broken sobs slowed as his breathing returned to normal. He placed his broken son onto the couch as he regained his composure. "How long have you been standing there?" Bruce asked without turning around.

"A while," Clark murmured.

Whatever he had expected to see, it was not that. The 'Batman' was breaking down, he had been sobbing into the body of his son as if the boy was already dead. And then Clark realized that Batman was only a part of Bruce Wayne. The man was, in fact, human. Despite what he wanted others to believe, he had a very soft heart. "Why?" Bruce demanded.

"Dad," Jason blurted as he realized that his father had not taken in the presence of his sons.

Bruce stiffened as he slowly turned himself to face the scene before him. It would've been funny if not for the magnitude of the situation. Dick rested in Clark's arms while holding an IV stand as Damian and Jason stood on either side. After a long pause, Bruce said, "…yes?"

"It's not your fault." Jason whispered before he stepped forward, knelt down, and pulled his father into a much needed embrace. "It's not your fault." He whispered before burying his face into the man's shoulder.

Jason tried to hold himself together as he felt his father's form crumble and shake against him. He tried to not let the tears slide as he attempted to comfort his father. Yet, somehow, he could not battle the tears. He could not battle against the overwhelming sorrow that threatened to engulf him. "Sh…" Bruce sniffled as he reversed into the role of the comforter. He pulled his second oldest son against him as he cradled him against his chest.

"I'm sorry for being mad at you." Jason whispered. "But you have to let us stay being your partners. You don't understand that we have the same passion for justice. Now that Timmy's—we have to help you, Dad."

Bruce shook his head before his son could finish. Dick began to protest, but Clark strode over, placed the boy down and disappeared to give the family their privacy. "Listen, boys…I don't want to see you get hurt. I almost lost you guys, I'm not going through that again."

"So you're acting out of fear?" Damian spat incredulously.

Bruce hesitated before nodding, "There's nothing I fear most, than losing you. You don't understand that it's my job to protect you. How do I do that if I constantly put you in danger?"

"Well, for one, we're the sons of a rich ass billionaire." Dick scoffed.

"Money isn't everything, Dick. You don't understand that I don't want to lose any of you. We've already—lost Tim." Bruce forced a shudder down as he glanced at his youngest son. "Honestly, I don't know what to do anymore."

"Dad, you can't act out of fear." Damian scoffed. "You're the Batman."

"I'm sorry if it's such a hard fact for you to grasp, Son, but…I get scared too." Bruce shrugged as he attempted to send his son a wry smile. "Listen, I'll think about it, but I can't make any promises."

"Is Tim really dead?" Dick asked.

"No, he's not, Dick. He's…just permanently stuck as the 'mini' Joker. I'll try to get one of my best plastic surgeons to help him, but even then, he's mentally stuck as Joker. We'll have to be patient as scientists do tests on him. I don't know if he'll be OK. Sometimes I wonder…if it would've been better if he had died." Bruce murmured.

"Dad! Don't talk like that." Jason growled.

"I'm sorry…" Bruce said as he raised his eyes to meet his sons. They each recoiled when they witnessed what flashed there. _Nothing_. There was only one thing—_defeat_.

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Yah, the last part was a bit rushed, oh well. I'll edit it later. I just wanted to get this up for you guys cause' it's been a pretty long time. Well, I guess a few weeks could be considered a long time. lol. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and please don't forget to Review!!!

Thanks again for reading.


	16. Back to Normal?

Read, Review, and ENJOY!!!

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Chapter Sixteen

The Wayne household seemed strange and eerie, like the home of a stranger. The house that was usually filled with life seemed to have dissipated. Although they were all healing, some wounds could not be stitched. Their little brother was in an asylum getting 'help'. The family tried to be supportive; they tried to hold onto as much hope and faith as they could, but their hearts couldn't handle any more devastating blows. If they held onto hope and Timothy could not be saved, then they would be crushed. Yet, if they allowed themselves to slowly give up, then everything would be less painful.

After three months, Dick, Jason, Damian, and Jaime were preparing their return to school. Bruce begrudgingly had to let his children back into public school. He was still afraid that something would happen to them. Bruce Wayne was becoming an overly paranoid parent. "Do you kids have everything you need for school?" Bruce asked for the sixth time. "I just checked the gas and oil again, everything's ready."

"Yah…" Jason shrugged. "Are you driving us?"

Bruce grimaced before answering, "Dick will take you, and I'll take Jaime."

The boys nodded before departing without a single good bye. What had happened to their little family? Bruce forced himself to smile at his daughter—another lie. _I promised Timmy that everything was going to be all right, oh how I was wrong?_ "Ready to go, Chum?" He asked.

She nodded before taking a glance around the house. It terrified her to leave the safe confines of her home, but she sucked up her fear as she bravely shouldered her backpack. Giving her a father a shaky smile, she grabbed his hand before walking out to the Lamborghini. "Atta girl," He smiled at her again, "to school!" He swooped the eight year old into his arms.

He'd seen the gradual changes in his daughter, the fear, the mistrust, and the paranoia in everything around her. She no longer smiled, laughed, or filled the house with her endless chatter. She too, was broken. With a wistful glint in his eyes, Bruce carried his youngest child out to the car and began their voyage to school. "Do you have everything?" He asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

She silently nodded as she played with her hands. "Are you going to be OK?" He asked.

She hesitated before nodding silently. After a sigh, Bruce asked, "Do you want me to walk you in?"

"…yes…" She murmured in a barely audible voice.

"All righty, let's go." He said with false cheeriness.

"I don't want to other kids to make fun of me." She blurted. "But I'm scared."

"Hey, when has anyone making fun of you ever stopped you before?"

"I had…" She trailed off as her eyes began to dampen.

"Ah…" Bruce nodded. Jaime always had her big brother by her side. He protected her. "Hey, I'll walk you in and I'll make sure that none of them will make fun of you. Deal?"

"How will you do that?"

Bruce shrugged and then whispered. "I'm your Daddy."

Jaime nodded and then climbed out of the car, immediately grasping her father's hand with both hands. "All right Kiddo, be strong, OK?"

"Aye aye."

Dick pulled into the school's parking lot. Had it only been 3 months since he'd been here? It already felt like ages. Shouldering his backpack and grabbing his books, he climbed out of the car with his younger brothers beside him. "Dick Grayson." Barbara glared at him while tapping her foot. "Where have you been? I've gotten no phone calls, emails, or anything!"

"You know, Babs, I've been…busy." He shrugged as he attempted to give her a small smile.

"Excuses," She murmured before pulling him into a welcoming hug, "I've missed you, you Dickhead."

"Same here," He replied.

Jason's eyes swept the crowds of students to find the girl he was looking for. Where was she? "Hey…Babs?" Jason called.

"Yah, Jays."

"Where's Cass?" Jason asked as he turned his puzzled gaze towards his brother's girlfriend.

Barbara grimaced before answering, "She left."

"What do you mean?"

"She's gone, Jays. I'm sorry."

"Where'd she go?" Jason demanded. "Where!?"

"I don't know, Jason, she left without even saying good bye. One day she was here, the next she was gone. OK?" Barbara sighed, annoyed by the fact that her time with Dick was being interrupted by his little brother. "Here, she told me to give this to you. I didn't open it or anything." Barbara fished out an envelope and handed it to the younger boy.

Jason grabbed the envelope with a pained expression and then walked away. "Wait, she left him a note?" Damian inquired.

"What's it to you?" Barbara snapped and then pulled Dick away from his brother.

"Wow, feisty," Dick quirked a brow in his girlfriend's direction.

"I get a bad vibe from that kid, all right?"

"Fair enough," Dick shrugged as he took Barbara's hand.

Damian trailed after Jason. "Are you going to open it?"

"Yah, later," Jason grumbled.

"Why not now?"

Jason glared at his younger brother and then walked away in another direction.

Bruce sat in the meeting, half listening to the business leaders, half dwelling on other matters. "Mr. Wayne? Mr. Wayne?"

"Hm, yes?" Bruce straightened up with a charming smile flashing across his face.

"What do you think?"

"It's…debatable."

"Debatable?"

"Yes, there are good points and bad points…" Bruce said.

"Like what?" The older man folded his arms and glared at the younger man before him.

"Like…" _Bzz! Bzz!_ Bruce's cell phone began to ring, evoking more glares from the older businessmen. "I'm sorry, my kids." He grimaced before excusing himself to take the phone call.

"Dad, I'm going to kill Damian."

"Wait, what? Jason?"

"I'm going to fucking kill Damian! Don't even talk to me about my language right now; I'm going to murder him. Beat the shit out of him. He's going to die."

"What's going on, Chum? Just talk to me." Bruce frowned.

"He—I'm going to kill him. He's _dead_."

"Jason, OK, I'm going to come pick you up and then you can talk to me. OK? Just relax, I'm going to be there in a little bit."

"No, that boy is d_ead_." With that, Jason hung up.

"Jason! Uggh!" Bruce jammed the cell phone back into his pocket and threw the oak doors open. "I'm sorry, but family emergency. Can we hold this meeting a little later? Sometime this week?"

"Mr. Wayne, we do not approve of your actions."

"Yes, I'm sorry. Family emergency, my son's…about to lose it…" Bruce then darted out of the building and leapt into his car.

Jason strode up to Dick and his group of friends. "Hey, Dickhead."

With an annoyed glance at his younger brother, Dick cocked his brow. "What do you want?"

"I'm going to kill Damian." Jason murmured before walking away from his extremely confused older brother.

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Thanks for reading and don't forget to Review!


	17. Live and Love

Hey guys, this is the second to last chapter. Read and ENJOY!!!!!

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Chapter Seventeen

Dick shared a glance with Barbara before turning and running after his brother. "Jason! Wait!" He shouted as he raced after the taller boy.

Jason ignored his brother's shouts as he shoved through his fellow students and got lost in the sea of kids. Eventually he found the boy he was looking for. The larger boy reached forward and grabbed the collar of Damian's shirt. "You're dead."

Damian stumbled forward as he wore an innocent face. "What the hell are you talking about…Bro?"

"Don't you 'Bro' me. You're not my brother, you ass!" Jason shouted before slamming a fist into Damian's face.

Immediately, blood spurted from the younger boy's nose before he realized that he was getting beat on. He retaliated by kicking his brother's shin. With that, it was a full on fight, both boys set on killing each other. "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" The other students chanted.

"No, no, no!" Dick mumbled as he ran towards the crowd surrounding the two boys.

"Dick!" Barbara called.

"Babs, we gotta stop them!" Dick said before he attempted to shove his way through.

It was nearly impossible to get through the tightly knit crowd of students. They were engrossed in the blood and anger rolling before them. Once in a while, a cry of pain could be heard splitting through the air and Dick would freeze before continuing to push away more students. After what felt like an eternity, Dick broke through the crowd and launched himself at his two brothers. "Guys! Stop!" He shouted, evoking boo's from the crowd around him.

Dick attempted to peel his brothers off of each other, but they were locked on killing one another. Jason continuously slammed his fists into Damian as his elbows jabbed Dick. Soon enough, Dick found himself pulled into his brothers' fight and attempted to defend himself from the blows. He couldn't tell who was throwing them at him because he'd get punched in the face and then the two of them would be back at each other again.

"Jason Todd! Damian Wayne!" A voice thundered.

Two hands pulled the boys apart. The strong arm jerked Dick off the ground before bending down to grab both Damian and Jason. "What do you think you're doing?" Bruce growled as he held the bloodied boys by the scruff of their necks.

"I tried to stop them, Dad." Dick said as his hand flew to nurse his wounded nose. When had he started bleeding?

"I am so disappointed in you two. Come on, let's go." He spun around and towed both boys behind him as he ignored the students around him. "Dick, I'll see you after school."

Dick turned away from his family to find that the crowd had dispersed and only Barbara had stayed behind to wait for him. "What was that about?" She asked.

"I don't know." Dick shrugged. "He looked mad. They're going to get it."

"Spanky spanky?"

"Ha, no! Just the world's longest lecture and longest grounding."

"That doesn't sound bad at all."

"No, it doesn't, not until you look at him. When you see my dad's eyes….well then it's horrible. You just know that he had faith in you and you had disappointed him. You let him down…and that's the worst part." Dick murmured.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Bruce demanded as he stonily drove the boys back to the manor.

"Nope, not at all." Jason glowered as his arms stubbornly folded across his chest.

"Really, I got pulled out of a meeting, so you better start talking."

Jason pursed his lips and glared out of the window. "What's in your front pocket, Jays?" Bruce asked as he glanced through the rearview mirror.

"Nothing."

Bruce held his palm out as he waited for his son to hand him the slip of paper. "I told you, it's _nothing_." Jason growled as he shoved the paper deeper into his pocket.

With a sigh, Bruce turned to Damian, "Care to start talking?"

"Well, he just came up to me and beat me to death. I was defending myself." Damian shrugged.

"Why would he do that?"

"You tell me." Damian snapped.

Troubled by his sons' attitudes, Bruce decided to deal with them once they reached the manor. Right when they pulled onto the driveway, Bruce got out of the car and jerked them out of the car by their shirts. Alfred greeted them at the door with an, 'oh my'. "Since you boys don't feel like talking, go clean up first and then you better start spewing some information."

Bruce glanced at the butler for guidance, when the old man nodded in approval, Bruce motioned for them to get going.

Dick hurriedly hugged Barbara and then murmured, "I'm gonna ditch. I have to find out what's going on. Cover me?"

Barbara rolled her eyes, "Do I have a choice?"

"Thanks, Babs, you rock!" He grinned before darting into the parking lot.

With ice packs held against their wounds, Jason and Damian sat on the living room couch as their father paced in front of them. "What the hell were you guys thinking!? You know I hate it when you fight in general. Now you fight at school!?!? Are you trying to get yourselves expelled!?" Bruce demanded.

"Dad, he attacked me. Did you expect me to just sit there and let him pummel his fists into me?"

"Damian," Bruce glared at the younger boy, "both of you are at fault here. I am so disappointed in both of you." Before continuing his rant, Bruce sighed, "Damian, you're excused. I'll have a chat with you later. Jason, follow me." He grabbed his son's arm and jerked him into his office.

"Dad—"

Bruce held up a silencing hand. "It's not only the fighting that I'm disappointed in, Jason. I can't believe that you'd be set on killing your own brother. You better have a good explanation for this, now, spit it out."

Jason glared at his father, "Fuck you."

Whatever reaction Jason had expected to get from his father, it was not this. Bruce leaned back and slightly frowned. His face was completely calm despite the disappointment and frustration that was rolling off of him. "I'll give you a chance to take that back." He murmured.

"…sorry…" With a sigh, Jason grabbed the note and tossed it in his father's direction. "Here, I was just trying to solve the answer to all of our problems. We were a perfectly fine family until he came along."

_Dear Jason,_

_I'm sorry that I won't be here if you ever get back to Gotham High. If you want to know the truth, I've been threatened about my past. I know you know the truth about my parents and how my father used to be an assassin, but no one else knows and I hope it stays that way. Not only was I threatened about that, I was threatened that if I didn't leave then you'd be put in danger. Usually, I don't take petty threats seriously, but this guy has connections and I know that he means everything he says. Jason, I would never ever want you to get hurt and so I say good bye. Perhaps fate will one day put us together, but right now, we'll stay apart._

_Love, _

_Cass_

_P.S. He doesn't know that I'm giving you this note. And it's Damian; he's the answer to __all__ of your problems._

"Jason…" Bruce sighed.

"I don't expect you to do anything, Dad. He's your son, after all, but you need to know. He hurt Tim and Jaime; he's the reason why everything happened to us. Tim might still be here if it wasn't for him!"

"Jays…"

"No, Dad, don't." Jason angrily shook his head. "You don't understand! I'm not going to sit around and do nothing. I know the doctors and your surgeons are doing all they can to make Tim back to normal again, but he's never going to be back to normal! _We're _never going to be back to normal! Jaime's scarred for life and she saw it all. Every little thing that went on in that room with Joker, she saw it. She's only eight! Now, Dick and I will never have our same sister again and we'll most likely not have our little brother back!"

Knowing that Jason wasn't done, Bruce remained silent. "Dad…I _hate_ him. I know I shouldn't, he's my brother. But I do! I _hate_ him for putting us through this."

"We don't know for sure, Jason. All we have for proof is this note."

At that comment, Jason scoffed as he swiped the angry tears from his face. "I can't believe you'd say that. Just listen to yourself! Look around you, Dad! You know Dick, Jaime, and me inside and out, you raised us. Damian is this teenage boy that just entered our lives; he's off the hook and out of your control. Just admit it; although he's your blood child, you know nothing about him."

"I'll admit that there are some things I don't know about him, but you're not giving him a chance."

"You know what? I knew this would happen! I knew that you'd take his side! Well then…I think it's about time we ask Jaime about what exactly happened and if she knew anything."

"If she did, she would've told us, Jason! Are you listening to yourself!?"

"Are you listening to _yourself_!?"

"Jason!"

"Dad!" Jason raised his voice. "That note says it all!"

"No it doesn't!"

"DAMIAN will DIE!"

"Why, Jason?" Bruce asked. "Do you think killing him will end our grief and our pain? OK, so maybe he plotted all of this. What will killing him do?"

"…_everything…_" Jason whispered, "He doesn't deserve life when he's already taken away Tim's."

"Tim isn't dead, Jason."

"Really, you really believe that? I saw your eyes that one night, _defeat_. Do you remember that night you held Tim in your arms as you cried? It was only a few months ago, or are you going to pretend that it never happened? Cause' I remember incredibly well, he's as good as dead, Dad. Even if the surgeons fix his face, his mind is a pile of mush. He's never going to be the Tim we _loved_."

"Jason, don't."

"Tim's DEAD! So can we all stop pretending that he isn't!? We can't do anything for him. All the love, support, hope, and faith won't get us or him anywhere. I know we all _pretend_ to believe that he's going to be OK again. We all try to believe that when we wake up, tomorrow will be all better. Well then, WAKE UP! Nothing's getting better, in fact, everything's getting worse! I'm tired, Dad, tired! I'm tired of hoping and then getting disappointed! I'm tired of fighting against something I can't win and I know you are too! I know that we're all silently hurting and that killing Damian won't get rid of that pain. But at least I'll know that I got rid of the thing that tried to tear our family apart!" Jason screamed as the hot tears rushed down his face.

"I'm sorry, Jason." Bruce whispered. "I just—I don't know what to do, OK? I know that Damian might've done…this…but what do you want me to do? I can't just let you kill him and as much as you'd hate to admit it, he's your brother."

With a single glare, Jason spat, "He'll never be my brother."

"Jason…" Bruce said helplessly, "I know you're hurting, but you can't just kill him."

"Because he's your fucking blood child, right?"

"No, Jays, because killing is wrong."

Jason's face twisted angrily as he glared at Bruce through his tears. "Shut up. I hate you! I hate you!" He screamed as he slammed a fist into his father's chest. He began kicking and punching at his father, not caring where the blows landed. "I hate you!"

Hearing the ruckus, Dick rushed in to find Bruce leaning against the wall while Jason continued beating him. The billionaire did nothing to stop his son's raining blows. "Jason! Stop!" Dick shouted, absolutely horrified. "Stop it! You're going to hurt him!"

"I hate him! I hate you! I hate this stupid, goddamn, fucking world!" Jason sobbed as he punched and kicked. Something in his chest was breaking, something in his chest was thrashing as it threatened to break free.

Gasping for breath, Jason fell to his knees as he clawed at his chest. The rock in his throat expanded as it threatened to choke him. Everything hurt. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't feel, _he was numb_. The pain was overwhelming him; the hole in his chest was gaping as he continued to claw at it. "Jason!" Dick screamed.

"Everything hurts!" Jason screamed. "Everything hurts and I can't stop it!"

Strong arms grasped the screaming boy, "I know, I know everything hurts." The hoarse voice whispered. "I know, Son."

"Make it go away!" Jason screamed. "I don't want to feel this anymore! Can't you just bring him back!? Why can't you bring him back!?"

"We're doing the best we can. The doctors are doing the best they can. All we can do is hope and wait." Bruce whispered.

"It's not fair!" Jason gasped as he struggled to breathe.

"Sh…I know, but when has life ever been fair?"

"Never," A small voice said and Bruce turned to see his eldest son holding his youngest child.

Bruce sadly smiled and then nodded, "Exactly, never. Jason, you need to understand that you're not alone in this. I know that you're hurting, but you're not the only one. We're all hurting and eventually we'll all pull through."

Jason bowed his head and sobbed into his father's chest. "Damian needs to be punished."

"Trust me, Jason, in time, he_ will be_." Bruce whispered.

"When, Dad, when?"

"…soon…I promise," He then turned towards his other two children and motioned for _them to join him._

With his three children wrapped in his arms, Bruce whispered, "I know you think Tim is dead and that there's no hope for him, but you need to cling onto that small tendril of hope, no matter how small. It was wrong of me to give you the impression that I had given up, I haven't. He will come back to us."

"What do we do now, Dad?" Jaime asked as she voiced the question all of her brothers had been wondering.

"Right now? We're going to work together to heal as a family and bring justice to those who deserve it. Not only that, we're going to make sure that nothing like this will ever happen again. You need to remember that although at times it may seem as if it's you against the world, it isn't. In fact, it's _us_ against the world."

"So we're back in the game?" Dick asked.

"Oh, yes, Partner, you're back." Bruce grinned as he realized that he had been pushing his family away when he should've been pulling them closer. Now, as they sat in the room holding each other, they were beginning to stitch their deepest wounds.

"I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't mean what I said…" Jason trailed off.

"I know, Kiddo, I know."

"So…" The boy smirked, "you starting to bruise yet?"

"Hey, I'll admit that you're pretty strong, but there's no way I'm bruising yet." Bruce laughed.

In the hallway, Alfred surveyed the family with a small and satisfied smile. Even though Damian had yet to receive his punishment, the family was moving forward. They were beginning to do the one thing they were supposed to do, _live_ and _love. _With a duster in hand, Alfred entered the office and grinned, "Cookies and milk anyone?"

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I want to say thanks to everyone who read and I hope this chapter did not disappoint. Have a nice day! :) and don't forget to review!


	18. Everything's OK

Here it is! The final chapter! I know it's not much, but it just concludes everything. :)

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Chapter Eighteen

After settling his children in the living room with their snacks and video games, Bruce made his way up the stairs. How could someone of his own flesh and blood be so evil? How could someone he created become so twisted? With a heavy sigh, Bruce struggled up the stairs and stormed into the room. Once his eyes landed on the boy's smug features, every regretful thought escaped from his mind. "Why the hell did you do it?" Bruce demanded.

"What, do what?" Damian asked.

"Don't you dare try to play innocent with me," Bruce growled as his strong arms jerked the boy off the bed, "now, _tell me why_."

"You want to know why? It's because…I was jealous. I'm your _son_. Your real son and you treat me worse than _them!_" Damian spat as he motioned out the door. "You created me, I'm your flesh, your blood, and sure, you accepted me, but you didn't love me!"

"You're wrong."

"NO! I'm right! You like me! You want me! But you sure as hell don't love me! I know it because I've seen how you treat Dick, Jason, Tim, and Jaime! You're warm, you smile, you laugh. They make you happy! I don't!"

"Damian, trust me, I loved you the damn moment I found out you were my son. How could I not? Just because I didn't treat you like them didn't mean anything! I needed time to get to know you. I've missed fifteen years of your life, Damian! What did you expect from me?"

"More than you gave, Dad."

"And so you decided to take it out on the two little ones?"

"No, I decided to hurt you. You see, I was raised with Gotham's finest criminals, I knew each and every one of them. When I got to know you better, I learned that the best way to hurt you was to hurt them. With Dick and Jason taken away, there'd be no way you could be sane with Tim and Jaime possibly dead. Unfortunately, I underestimated you."

"Damian, how could you be so selfish?"

"I just wanted love."

"And I gave it to you! You just couldn't see it!" Bruce roared. "You tried to tear us apart!"

"It was the only way."

"No," Bruce said flatly, "Damian, you may be of my flesh and my blood, but you are not of my heart. You don't carry the same passion, you harbor anger and jealousy. I'm sorry, but you know what? You're _not_ my son."

Damian's lips pursed into a thin line as he glared at Bruce, "And you're not my father," with another angry glare, Damian spat, "so what now?"

"I'm sending you back."

"You know what that means, right?"

Bruce sighed and nodded. "We're enemies."

Bruce entered the large manor after dropping his son off with Talia. Talia's surprised and pained face would be forever etched in his soul. Her protests continued to ring in his head as the memory of the moment he dropped Damian off entered his mind. "Please! His grandfather will kill him!"

With a stony face, Bruce desperately tried to ward off the pleas. It was already hard enough abandoning the boy who he had already grown quite attached to. It was already hard disowning him. "I'm sorry, Talia, but he is a danger to my family."

"He's your son!"

"No," Bruce shook his head as his gaze lingered on the boy who looked so much like him, "he can't be."

As tears freely ran down her face, she desperately threw herself at him. Her fingers clawed at his torso as she shrieked, "Take him back, Bruce! Sending him here is like sentencing him to **death**!"

"And taking him back is sentencing my other children to death." Bruce coolly replied. "I'm sorry, Talia, but I'm sure he'll find a way to survive. He's a smart boy."

With that, Bruce had left without another word. If he had stayed any longer, he might've fallen for Talia's pleas. "Dad?" Dick called.

"Yah!" Bruce strode over to the living room and stared at his group of children.

"Everything all right?"

"…yah…" Bruce smiled as he took in the sight of his three children huddled together on the couch. "Everything's just fine, come on, let's go visit Tim."

"Yay!" Jaime leapt off the couch and raced to grab her jacket.

"Come on guys," Bruce took Jaime's hand and motioned for the two older boys to hurry to the car. Even Alfred was coming along to visit Tim.

As the family entered the asylum, the doctor stopped them and warned, "There hasn't been any progress, although he may look like the Tim you knew, he's far from it."

With a glance at his family, Bruce nodded, "We know, we just hope that after seeing us so much, he'll be brought back to sanity."

"Go on in, then." The doctor motioned for the security guard to unlock the gate for the Wayne family.

The family's surprise was evident as they entered the cell of the asylum. Tim looked exactly like he had before. None of the Joker's features were on his face; he was once again Timothy Drake Wayne. "Bam bam, bam bam, hahaha," the boy laughed as he rocked back and forth.

Bruce's eyes sadly lowered once he heard what the child was saying. "Hey, Tim." Jason murmured as he took a seat across from his brother.

Dick and Jaime followed their brother's example and sat beside him. "Sup' Tim."

"Bam bam."

Bruce shared a disappointed glance with Alfred before making his way towards his son. His hand shakily reached out to grasp the rocking boy's shoulder, immediately ending the rocking. "Timmy," Bruce said before crouching beside him.

"Bam bam,"

"I just wanted to let you know that…Damian's gone and…I need—we need you to come back to us. So please, please, get better." Bruce whispered.

The family remained silent as they listened to Tim continue his never ending statement, "Bam bam, bam bam."

After a few moments, Bruce sighed and stood up, "Come on, guys, let's go home. OK?"

"Yah." They each quickly agreed and stood up.

"Bye, Timmy."

The family filed out one after another to exit the cell. Of course, they were each disappointed. Their brother was not back. Bruce was the last to leave and as he finished exiting the cell, a sound caught his ears, "Dada."

With a soft, excited, and proud smile, Bruce turned and nodded, "Yes, Dada, and I promise you, Timmy, you _will_ be back to normal, if it's the last thing I do. And Timmy, I never make promises I can't keep. You will be OK, I promise. Everything will be OK."

Turning back to his other children, Bruce drove home with a lighter heart. The family was going to be fine. They were healing and with time, they were going to grow closer together. Life was good now that they knew what they had to do. Live and love, life was about living, loving, and learning from your mistakes. "Guys?" Bruce smiled as he glanced at them through the rearview mirror.

"Yah?"

"I love you."

"We know," The three children grinned before saying, "we love you too."

The END

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I just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who've read and supported this story. I couldn't have done it without you guys! I feel so accomplished now that this story's done and perhaps I'll make a sequel, or other short stories with the same characters. :D Keep your eyes open for more and thank you so much!!!!

--HD (peaceguardian) :D

Oh, don't forget to review and tell me what you think!

THANKS **1000GreenSun neko-jin72 katanagirl16 Cat2 Fullmetal Knight Wandamarie RoXaS707 Spyke411 and SayianWizard and everyone else who read!!!!**

lol, I can't stop thanking enough for reading and reviewing!

OK, I'm sure you all have better things to do, so I'll end it right here. :D See you!!!


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